


The Assistant

by GamblingDementor



Category: In the Heights - Miranda
Genre: Alternate Universe, Boss/Employee Relationship, F/M, Friendship, Gen
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2017-07-22
Updated: 2018-02-25
Packaged: 2018-12-05 09:03:54
Rating: Explicit
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 4
Words: 37,587
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/11574834
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/GamblingDementor/pseuds/GamblingDementor
Summary: Boss/assistant AU. When Nina offers Usnavi a job in her company as her coworker Vanessa's assistant, she has no idea anything will come out of it. But as Vanessa and Usnavi start to show signs of mutual interest, she gets more and more worried that their attraction will go beyond the bonds of an acceptable professional relationship. Will she manage to stop the fire burning between her two friends?(Each chapter is from a different character's point of view and covers the same time frame)





	1. Nina

 

Nina struggles to push her front door open, balancing several grocery bags across both her arms.

 

"Bunny," she calls out as soon as she steps inside. "I'm home, come help me."

 

Benny's head perks up from the couch where he was playing with the baby and, carefully putting her down on her play mat, he jumps up to assist Nina.

 

"Damn, honey, you bought enough for a regimen…" He says, grabbing a few bags from her, setting them on the kitchen counter, putting everything away. "What happened?"

 

She sighs as she drops the remaining paper bags on the closest chair and rubs her forehead clean from the sweat.

 

"Usnavi happened," she says and Benny laughs out loud.

 

"You saw him?" She nods and, more seriously, he asks, "How's he doing?"

 

It's no secret that Usnavi has been going through quite the rough patch ever since he lost his job. Only two weeks, but there is a gloom surrounding him and he's been invited here more often than not. Nina feels for him more than she ever has. He's Benny's best friend in the world and he's as good as her brother, too, and she hates to see him struggling. Even more when she knows he would never take any hand-outs from her. Not in such an obvious way, anyways.

 

"I got him a job!" She announces proudly. "He made me buy half the grocery store to celebrate."

 

Benny was in the middle of putting away gallons of tomato sauce but turns around, his eyes squinted in puzzlement.

 

"You did?"

 

She nods cheerfully. Quite the coincidence, if she has to admit, just one position opening up at her company the moment Usnavi needed a new job, and luck played as much a role as her own intervention did, but still. One jobless soul no longer lacking work. And an excellent, hardworking man at that. She's quite happy with her idea. Nina is lucky enough to work for García & García, a company she can be proud of for its success and at the same time morally satisfied with, which is rare and rarer to find these days. She's boundless with joy at the prospect of sharing her treasured work environment with Usnavi soon.

 

"Van needed an assistant! She fired hers the other day."

 

"Van… Ms García?

 

"Uh huh," she says, putting away the content of the last of the bags on her chair. She walks up to Benny to help him with his but finds him staring at her, his brow knitted in confusion. "What?"

 

"Vanessa García, big boss at García & García?"

 

"Honestly, bunny, we've had lunch with her many times, I go to her place all the time, you know her, she's my best friend and she's basically at the same level of responsibility as I am. Just because she's Daniela's protégée…"

 

"No, I mean… Usnavi has never worked as an assistant before, has he?"

 

She bites her lip. She hadn't thought of that. Usnavi has been used to working hard, of course, every day of his life, but there's different types of work and she's only now realizing that she offered him a desk job with which Usnavi has as good as zero experience at all. Suddenly she's afraid she'll ruin her own status at García & García. Benny notices her freezing in place and, dropping the bags of way too many fruit for three people, one of them an infant, Usnavi's helping hand's courtesy, he wraps her up in his arms.

 

"Oh, sweetheart, don't worry, I'm sure it'll be fine," he says, kissing her hair. "Usnavi's a smart little dude."

 

"You think?" she asks anxiously. "I mean, yes, I know he's smart…"

 

"Tell you what," Benny says, holding her at arm's distance, a kind smile on his face and warm eyes upon her. "I'll cook dinner and you'll play with Claudia. It'll relax you. And after dinner…"

 

"Oh, hush," she blushes, though she's smiling. She takes a hold of herself. "No, you're right. It'll be fine."

 

"Yeah!" He says, already grabbing the pots from the oven and getting to work. "Of course it will."

 

"He'll fit in just fine," she adds, trying to convince herself.

 

She picks up her daughter from her play mat and forgets about Usnavi for the night.

 

She realizes with horror how very, very right she's been the next Monday.

 

Or at least after a while. She can't really say that he makes a great crashing start. She's barely walked inside the entrance hall of García & García, greeted the receptionists, when she sees him. Hair greased back (first time she's ever seen this and hopefully the last), shaky hands, as out of place as his over-sized suit. Nina smiles, worry gnawing at her from the inside. She puts a hand on his shoulder from behind. Startling, he almost shrugs her off but mellows in relief when he sees her.

 

"Nina!" He squeaks. "Hey, erm, I was looking for my…"

 

"I'll show you to your office," she smiles, grabbing his hand. "Come."

 

His office is right across from hers, only because it's also Vanessa's office and they like to be near to each other for all the times they barge into each other's space to work on some project together. There's a desk in a corner for her personal assistant, unused for the past week. After she fired Jerry the other day, the files have been piling up on it and Nina prays to God that Usnavi manages to salvage through the workload to be done, even a little bit. He should be quite at ease here, she reflects. One of their best work environments, far up from the noise of the street. On the last floor of the building, the room is broad and well-lit, Vanessa demanding the angle with the best view when they moved the company in this bigger building a few years back. There is, however, no sign of her anywhere. _Sounds like any Monday morning._ Nina sighs.

 

"This is your desk," she tells Usnavi. "Can you just…" She looks at the piles of work needing to be done, then at his big brown bewildered eyes. "Erm, just sort the folders. The envelopes go into the…"

 

She takes a rather large chunk of her time to explain it all to him, hopefully not amounting to nothing. _Usnavi is smart_ , she repeats in her own mind like a mantra. _He'll do this perfectly fine._ But with the previous assistant slacking off, and Vanessa acting all distracted the past few weeks… She can only hope. With still no sign of the culprit, she leaves Usnavi in his boss-less office on his own, hoping for the best. She has her own vineyard to tend to.

 

Vanessa's arrival is nothing subtle. And this is when Nina starts to worry.

 

"Who the hell is this guy?" Vanessa cries out as she barges into Nina's office an hour later.

 

Nina takes a few seconds to finish dealing with the email she'd just received and looks up at Vanessa.

 

"Mmh?"

 

"Dude in my office. Dorky hair, smiles weird."

 

"Oh, yeah, he's the assistant I told you about? My friend I hired for you?"

 

 _You could have asked him as much yourself_ , she thinks and doesn't voice. Vanessa's eyes hold something that tells her Usnavi already made the presentations in his very Usnavi way.

 

"Your friend, huh?" Vanessa asks, leaning against Nina's desk, playing with the copper paperweight Nina keeps there.

 

Nina nods, giving her a smile.

 

"Usnavi De la Vega," she says. "We basically grew up together."

 

Vanessa repeats the name like it's gold pouring out of her mouth. _Oh_. Nina squints.

 

"Did you ever… I mean, you know?" She gestures with her fingers and a disgusting frown takes over Nina's face.

 

"Ew. _No_."

 

Vanessa nods and Nina hopes she's not imagining the relief she thinks she sees on her face. She really, _really_ hopes, and not just for the sake of Usnavi's virtue. There's bigger things at risk. His job and his heart, to start and finish with. She's seen Vanessa crushing on people many times in the past. Usually she solves that by taking them to bed once or twice but Nina can't even dare to think of how heartbroken Usnavi would be, not to mention that it is strictly illegal. Vanessa has no right.

 

"Your friend Usnavi is my new assistant," Vanessa repeats.

 

"Uh huh."

 

"Well, he spilled coffee all over his shirt when I walked in."

 

Nina laughs self-consciously. Some great assistant she got her.

 

"It was cute," Vanessa adds.

 

She seems to catch herself immediately, her smile turning back into her cold expressionless face Nina knows so well. She fiddles with the paperweight some more before putting it back down on a completely different pile than where she picked it up and with a stiff nod, leaves the room without a word. Nina puts the paperweight back where it was supposed to be. The bad feeling doesn't leave her gut all day.

 

"So," Benny asks after her welcome home kiss. "How is Usnavi fitting in?"

 

She sighs exasperatedly.

 

"Oh, he'll fit in, alright…"

 

Benny takes her coat from her one-handedly and passes over the baby to her and Nina almost relaxes into the sweet baby smell of her daughter, the softness of her skin as she cuddles into her chest, but she only has to think of Vanessa's eyes this morning and she's back to outraged.

 

"She's gonna do him!" She cries out. "She's totally gonna do him."

 

"Wha… Vanessa García?"

 

Nina carefully lets herself down on the sofa, cradling Claudia against her. Behind her, Benny rubs her shoulders lovingly.

 

"Yeah… She, erm, seemed _interested_. I know her, bunny, she was…"

 

" _Interested_ ," he repeats slowly. "In Usnavi."

 

"I mean, it's not like he's… But it can't happen! Benny, she's his _boss_. Do you realize the potential implications of this? This is way beyond inappropriate."

 

"Mmh." His hands work miracles on her neck and she thanks god for the perfect masseur of a husband she got herself. "Well, here's to hoping nothing will happen."

 

"Oh, it can't, and it won't," she says firmly. "Because I'm keeping my eyes on them."

 

To his credit, Usnavi is nothing but professional. If he was a fish out of water the day he arrived, soon he becomes more and more adequate to the job, to the point that she feels she can actually trust him with the kind of files she would have shared with his predecessor. He arrives to work on time, even early, and is never found slacking off. Whenever Nina enters Vanessa's office, she finds him focused on his work. And whether Vanessa is pretending, putting on a show just for Nina, or if Nina genuinely misread the initial vibe, she doesn't notice anything odd coming from her.

 

Only a couple weeks go by before Usnavi decides that he wants to celebrate his new job and for Usnavi, celebrating has always meant sharing with the people he loves. Nina feels ever so lucky to always be included in those. Proud as a peacock, instead of popping by into her office across the hall, he sends her an email with his big company pre-formatted signature ostensibly displaying his name and position in the society. Usnavi De la Vega, Direction's Assistant. So much for getting him a job in her vicinity. He could have just taken the ten steps between their doors. Still, since the email is an invitation to a dinner at his place, all paid for with his fortnight's wages, so much more than what he earned at his old family hardware store, Nina is eager to confirm her enthusiastic presence in the Heights the next Saturday.

 

"Oh, Usnavi, this is lovely!" She lets out as soon as Usnavi invites them in.

 

He is all dressed up, his hair a much more appropriate, young hairdo than the initial disaster of the grease, and a nice shirt at that, less casual than his usual guayabera. He's even wearing normal pants and not his usual baggy mess that he left behind since the new job. He looks really nice, not quite Usnavi, but close enough that she believes the changes. She's so proud of him, and even more at seeing the feast he prepared them, even though it's just all four of them and the baby is barely on solids yet.

 

"I'm taking my life in hand," he says with the voice of someone who repeated his line a thousand times in front of the mirror. "This is the beginning of a new Usnavi."

 

"Well," she says, "I love new Usnavi. And he'll look even better with this."

 

She hands him the present she got him as Benny puts down the wine bottle he brought. Usnavi opens the box curiously and hugs her when he sees the fancy tie she bought for him. A nice bright red shade, enough to make him pop with all the black he's been wearing in the old suit of his, not too flashy so he won't steal the spotlight when business partners see him with his superior either. Vanessa wouldn't like that. He'll look lovely. Maybe she can wear a red scarf to match.

 

They spend a lovely night with him, of course, Usnavi doting on the baby (and Nina secretly relieved to not have to deal with the mess of feeding her mashed veggies for just one night), talking about all and nothing, but mostly about the job. There's a different kind of confidence about him now that even Benny notices when he teases him.

 

Usnavi seems on a cloud of happiness, she notes with pleasure. He can't seem to say enough about his work, proud of any minor accomplishment which Benny and Nina encourage heartily. The more they get into the night, the more Nina convinces herself that her doubts were for naught. There is absolutely nothing in Usnavi's behavior that suggests inappropriate thoughts towards Vanessa. He barely mentions her at all. _He's smarter than that_ , she thinks, and tells as much to Benny on their way home.

 

"Mmh?" He asks, too focused on the road to hear her the first time. In the backseat, the baby is sleeping and even Nina is feeling quite tired. The meal was delicious and plentiful and they've talked well into the night.

 

"I think I might have been wrong," she repeats. "I don't think there's anything fishy going on with Usnavi. He's smarter than that."

 

"Yeah, there isn't, right?" He says at once. "I didn't notice anything at all."

 

She loves him for that, for soothing her fears even when they were grasping her too recently. But then, how chipper Usnavi was all night, and with no talk of Vanessa…

 

"He wouldn't risk it," she says with finality. "We don't even know if _he's_ into her."

 

"I mean, she's Latina, she's beautiful and she thinks she's better than him. Sounds like his type."

 

"Mmh…"

 

He's not wrong.

 

"C'mon," he nudges her playfully. "I'm just kidding, we'd have noticed. He's not gonna do anything."

 

"He isn't," she insists.

 

"But will _she_?"

 

Whatever she might fear from Vanessa, Nina tells herself that it must have been a misunderstanding on her part. Usnavi is thriving at García & García and she is not going to compromise that by spilling unfounded rumors.

 

The following weeks only further confirm that Usnavi is taking this job most seriously. They often commute together from Washington Heights to work and back and Nina is proud to be seen at his side. He's bought a few new suits, she notices, and they fit him handsomely. The work is getting done. He does not look like a boy toy. He looks like a serious assistant. They smile at each other when they meet each other in the hall, they talk shop when they meet up outside of work, they're becoming coworkers, not just in title but in earnest as well. Another layer to their friendship.

 

Of course, she has every reason to trust _him_. Usnavi wasn't the one to act suspiciously. She never had any cause to suspect him. Vanessa was a whole other story that first day, but in the couple months that went by since Usnavi was hired, Nina hasn't had any reason to keep her guard up. They _are_ best friends after all and she won't accuse Vanessa on no basis but a gut feeling inside her. On all their Sunday hangouts together every week, she hasn't found ground to be wary, not if she doesn't want to be unreasonably jumping to conclusion. Not to mention that Vanessa is supposed to be dating that girl that Nina hasn't had the privilege to meet. But then Vanessa's dates are never quite as serious until she introduces them formally to Nina, and even more impressively, to Daniela, and neither of those meetings have taken place, so that can mean anything. Still. Nina has almost convinced herself that she was utterly and completely wrong − she's not above admitting her mistakes − when they decide to throw off every bit of trust she'd granted them in her own mind.

 

"Hey, Van, do you have the…"

 

She stops herself in her tracks the second she looks up from the paper she'd been looking at. Her heart triples size in her chest as emotions seize her. Betrayal, anger, shame… It's not even just the fact that Usnavi's hands are rubbing Vanessa's shoulders, an intimate massage if she's ever seen one, and that Vanessa's head is hanging back low, eyes closed in pleasure. It's not even that low moan that Vanessa lets out, so quiet Nina is sure she wouldn't have heard it across the hall − and who knows how many times this happened before without her knowledge? No, the real culprit, the one thing that ticks her is the look on Vanessa's face when she opens her eyes to Nina.

 

Anger. Vanessa is _angry_ she's been caught. There is no shame in those eyes, no guilt. There is only madness, folly. Nina feels her heartbeat pulse at her temples but breathes deeply. Usnavi stares dumbfounded, caught like a rat, and at least has the grace to realize he's doing something wrong, but as he tries to talk, words get stuck in his throat.

 

"Usnavi, leave us, please," Nina says calmly.

 

"This isn't what it looks like," he squeaks, scrambling away from Vanessa. "I only just…"

 

" _Usnavi_."

 

He trots away, shutting the door tight behind him and she doesn't even want to know where he's run off to. There'll be time for damage control later. Now, she cannot tear her eyes from Vanessa's, met with only ice. Nina cocks her brow, expecting an explanation, but nothing comes. Suddenly the immobile silence is too much for Nina, who feels anxiety filling her, twisting and mixing with the anger and disappointment, and she walks up and down the office before settling for the chair in front of Vanessa's desk. Vanessa's anger has turned into a closed coldness.

 

"So?" Nina finally asks.

 

"So what?" Vanessa frowns. "You were asking me if I have something?"

 

"Don't play dumb with me, Vanessa. You know what I'm talking about. Why was your assistant rubbing your neck so… sensually… ?"

 

"It wasn't _sensual_ ," Vanessa dismisses the very thought with a hand. "I was tired, he asked if he could helped me, he gave me a quick massage, I don't see why you're getting weird about it…"

 

"Oh my god, for freak's sake, you…" Nina realizes her voice has been rising and lowers it down to a whisper. "You _moaned_."

 

Across the desk, Vanessa is still staring stubbornly. Nina hates to do this the hard way.

 

"Look, I know there's something between you. I've had my doubts ever since you noticed Usnavi with… _interest_ , on his first day here."

 

There comes the reaction she wanted to prompt and Nina feels utterly helpless and unprepared for it. Vanessa's eyes bulge in surprise and her mouth opens.

 

"And I want to remind you that you're putting your assistant and _my friend_ in a vulnerable position," she finishes, peeping like a mouse.

 

"Vulnerable?" Vanessa hisses. "I'm not forcing him to do nothing. Fucking shit, Nina, he was only rubbing my shoulders!"

 

Nina tries to imagine that her perception of the situation could have been wrong, but she only has to think back a few minutes ago at the look of pure pleasure on Vanessa's face, and how guilty Usnavi was when they got caught. There is no way this was an innocuous helping hand. No way at all.

 

" _That I know of_ ," Nina points out. "You know you never just do _massages_ , Van."

 

The words hit Vanessa like a slap in the face and Nina regrets them instantly.

 

"I'm sorry, I didn't mean to…"

 

"I'm sorry too," Vanessa says, cutting like ice. "For disappointing you. I didn't know you always thought I was such a slut."

 

"Van, I never…"

 

"I guess you think I'm just too fucking horny all the time and I can't control myself so I'm gonna suck the dick of any random guy that crosses my path," she goes on, the anger still plain on her face, stronger every second, "Even if my job is at sake."

 

"That's not what I meant!"

 

Vanessa stands up abruptly, turning her back to her, staring ahead out the window. In any circumstances, Nina would reach out, try to hug her, soothe her, but she's growing anxious by the second. Feeling like she's said too much already, she prefers to give Vanessa the next part in this conversation.

 

"Tell me what you meant, then."

 

Nina weighs her words carefully.

 

"I'm saying I don't want Usnavi to be hurt," she says slowly. "You're right, I don't _know_ if there's anything going on but I'm friends with both of you and I'm suspecting there is. And he's my friend, but more importantly he's your subordinate and there are actual risks to engaging in this."

 

Vanessa hums, otherwise not acknowledging her. Nina chooses to take that as encouragement.

 

"Not just the legal risks, although that too… What happens in case of a break up, what happens if there's a scandal about it, if anyone finds out, what happens if _Daniela_ finds out, what happens when your interests at work are in conflict with his…"

 

Vanessa is hugging herself and Nina hates to believe that those might not have been risks Vanessa considered.

 

"And aren't you dating that girl anyways? Mona?"

 

"We broke up," Vanessa says coolly. "Two months ago."

 

Nina feels guilt deep inside at the thought that this is something she ought to have known.

 

"Look, I just don't want Usnavi's heart to be broken."

 

There is an odd sound coming from Vanessa's throat that Nina prefers not to acknowledge.

 

"He's sensitive and I don't know that he could simply recover from being left behind."

 

Vanessa spurs around, hurt and anger plain on her face still.

 

"And what makes you…" She sighs and sits back down at her desk. "No, you know what? You were heard. Dismissed."

 

She dives into papers in front of her and doesn't pay Nina any glance, though her hands are shaking. Nina tries to talk, but words get stuck in her throat and she leaves Vanessa's office. She's barely stepped into hers that she breaks into silent sobs against the door.

 

The first few days after the fight are the harshest, taking a complete toll on Nina. All day long at work, she wants to cry. She tries to think of Benny and gentle hugs, of Claudita and warm toothless smiles, but her thoughts keep bringing her to the friend she shamed and the other she tried to protect, but at a heavy cost. Even more, she doesn't see them at all and, fearing the worst, has to resort to asking Daniela where her supposed two best friends are hiding, never in their office when she passes by. She hates to learn from her CEO that they're away on a business trip. And didn't bother to tell her.

 

They come back a few days later and, probably a blessing coming out of this mess, whatever was or was not happening sure doesn't seem to anymore. Vanessa and Usnavi hold each other at an awkward distance. Nothing at all is happening anymore, she reflects, on all levels. All relations seem to have frozen to a halt. Not just between her and Vanessa. There'd never been a breach between the two of them since as long as she can remember and Nina feels the distance between them like a stab in the heart, but she can't help but notice that there's also a gap growing between Usnavi and Vanessa from what she can observe. And, just as heartbreaking, there's also tension between her and Usnavi that neither of them are willing to acknowledge.

 

Days pass and bring nothing new. For the first time ever, Vanessa misses their weekly Sunday hangout.

 

"I miss her," Nina moans into Benny's chest.

 

"I know you do, sweetheart," he kisses the top of her head.

 

She spends the day huddled under blankets snuggling into him with the baby but she keeps thinking about Vanessa and she convinces herself that everything is ruined for the rest of time.

 

Of course, Usnavi, sweet loving Usnavi makes the first move towards reconciliation. Nina has been brooding in her office one day more, all alone. Gone are the breaks together, the rides home on the same train, tired from the day but gossiping about the office, the serious business that makes Benny smile when he catches them. A week passes by since she caught that damned massage when there is a quiet knock at her door.

 

"Come in."

 

A terrified Usnavi walks in holding a steaming cup of coffee that he cautiously puts down on the coaster she keeps on her desk.

 

"I, erm, I brought you some coffee."

 

He fidgets, standing there in front of her, not daring to look. She's never loved him more than she does now. She takes a sip of the coffee − perfect, one sugar and a lot of milk, exactly as she's always liked it.

 

"Thank you," she says. "Usnavi, I…"

 

"Yeah?" He asks eagerly, sitting down on the chair in front of her desk.

 

Technically, it's lunch break. She could stand to have him here for a while. He's smiling his dorky smile and she wonders how two people like them can be siblings without having any family in common.

 

"Nothing," she smiles. "I'm happy to see you. How have you been?"

 

"Oh, you know… Working…"

 

And just like that, everything is back to normal between Usnavi and Nina, the peas in a pod they were always meant to be. They chat all the way through her lunch break, so long that Usnavi almost forgets to get back if he didn't get a text from his boss asking him back at his station. So Vanessa isn't yet ready to face Nina.

 

Nina knows Vanessa is stubborn. She's always been and Nina loves her for exactly who she is, but mostly because she's never had that bullheadedness geared towards her. Nina is torn between standing her grounds, knowing that her warning was warranted in some way, and begging for forgiveness, so much she misses Vanessa's affection. She wonders if this is some retribution for her, fate punishing her. Lose one, get one. At least her little talk has had its effects, for all the ills it's brought onto her social life. There is some awkwardness between Vanessa and Usnavi but at least she thinks they've taken their distances.

 

"Nina, do you have anything to add?" Daniela asks her.

 

Nina realizes she'd been lost in thoughts in the middle of a meeting, staring at Usnavi and Vanessa on the other side of the room. They're sitting together, yet maybe miles apart in their resolve to not look at each other at all. She's sure she ought to be happy about that. They can't be together. It's a bad idea on every level of this professional setting. And yet…

 

"Er…" She looks down at her notepad. Blank. Shame tugs in the pit of her stomach. "No, nothing."

 

Daniela looks at her a few more seconds than needed and Nina feels very exposed, but then she turns to Vanessa, asks her for her input. Vanessa gives a very prepared and pointed observation, the kind of remarks that make Nina glow in pride for her best friend. Usnavi is staring in admiration and for once, Nina doesn't blame him. In the middle of it, Vanessa's eyes cross Nina's and she nods at her confidently.

 

"Very good, very good…" Daniela says. "Everyone, you should be more like Vanessa. General remark on all of you. Dismissed."

 

The rest of the room stands up at once, Daniela first. Before she knows it, Nina is left almost on her own in the room, blinking confusedly. Usnavi has scattered away God knows where and Vanessa is about to leave as well, gathering her folders. Nina knows an opportunity when she sees it.

 

"Van, wait," she calls out, the fear heavy in her guts.

 

Vanessa turns to her and Nina has never found her so unreadable as now. She gulps.

 

"I'm… I'm sorry. You're obviously being very professional and…"

 

"Gee," Vanessa smirks. "Yeah, at a work meeting, I can be professional."

 

"You know what I mean."

 

Vanessa leans against the white board, scrutinizing Nina for a sign of… what exactly, Nina cannot say, but it seems she finds it.

 

"My place this Sunday, right?" She asks, picking up all her things.

 

She doesn't even wait for an answer before leaving the room.

 

And like that, after only a week of nothing short of distress, Nina has found back the love of her two friends. That Sunday, Benny and her bake cupcakes that Vanessa and her gorge themselves with at her place, watching kids movies they used to love. It's comfortable, it's everything Nina was craving, it's unblemished by any doubts.

 

Routines fall back into place after the sudden tear Nina shred through it all. Vanessa and her in their (all too rare) spare time, laughing like teenagers, the best friend she's ever had. Usnavi and her around work, sharing everything again. She can't believe she ever doubted his abilities. He is nothing but professional, working hard and even staying late some nights, taking his job like the serious work it is. There's nothing she notices about him and Vanessa anymore.

 

Or at least, she doesn't want to notice. Certainty is easier than doubts, even when unfounded. Weeks pass without Nina seeing anything. Or without allowing herself to acknowledge it.

 

"Yo, you came," Vanessa cheers as soon as she opens the door to Nina coming bearing yet another sugary treat for them to indulge in. Vanessa grabs the pack of candy. " _Mine_."

 

"Hello to you too," Nina smiles.

 

"Sorry, the room's a mess," Vanessa says, already trailing to the sofa to rest her feet on the coffee table. "Just dump your coat wherever."

 

Nina advances cautiously, finds a narrow spot for herself on the couch while Vanessa loads the movie they're going to be watching.

 

"What happened?" She asks, pulling the random mess into neater piles.

 

Vanessa gestures vaguely.

 

"Haven't had time to clean up," she says.

 

Nina rolls her eyes good-heartedly. She might want to deal with the mess for her later, after the movie. There's a bit of Chinese takeouts on the table, a yoga mat left unrolled on the floor, clothes disseminated across the room and…

 

"Ooh, check this out, I love the opening scene."

 

Nina wants to watch, she really does. She'd love to relax with her best friend, free of any suspicion. But her heart has frozen and stopped inside her chest and she find her hands not working anymore.

 

"Look at that!" Vanessa laughs. "Oh, man, I love how it… Nina?"

 

Nina looks up absently, then back down at the incriminating item. She almost doesn't want to confront Vanessa, not when they've regained their intimacy and it is just starting to feel completely like it was before. She also knows that she cannot let this go unmentioned.

 

"Vanessa," she asks carefully. "Why is Usnavi's tie under your coffee table?"

 

There is no need to ask for any explanation, to hear any excuse as soon as she sees the guilt gripping Vanessa's face.

 

"It's not Usnavi's t…" Vanessa tries to say but Nina shakes her head.

 

"I gave it to him after his first paycheck," she says, holding up the incriminating garment. "That's his tie."

 

All the warmth, the closeness that was between them has vanished again. Nina hates herself for this, for insisting on the rules, and yet she knows she cannot ignore any of it. She feels the anger and betrayal burning her. All that trust, and for what? On the other side of the couch, Vanessa is staring blankly, short of excuses. Finally, she sighs.

 

"What do you want me to tell you, Nina?"

 

Nina's mouth gapes open and she throws the tie between them.

 

"Tell me why you lied to me all these weeks, that'd be a start! You told me nothing was going on. I thought I had to be wrong!"

 

Vanessa picks up the tie, thumb stroking against the fabric almost tenderly. Nina feels sick to the stomach.

 

"I'm _sorry_ , okay," she says and Nina hates to hear more sadness than anger in her voice. "What do you expect me to say?"

 

"Tell me you were working late at your place!" Nina says desperately. "Tell me you stole his tie, I don't know…"

 

"You _know_ we had sex and he forgot it here," Vanessa sighs. "I'm not gonna lie about it _after_ you've found out."

 

"You did the first time."

 

Vanessa puts down the tie, folding it carefully in the midst of the mess in her living room. She grabs a handful of candy and pops them into her mouth before answering.

 

"Believe it or not, we weren't doing it yet back then."

 

There's such a strange calm about Vanessa that Nina is tempted to fully believe her, despite her doubts. Who knows when the whole thing even started to happen? Maybe Vanessa was telling the truth the first time Nina raised her suspicions. She's suddenly filled with a deep compassion for her and reaches out cautiously to rub her shoulder, which turns into a hug as Vanessa leans into her, burying her face into Nina's neck.

 

"Van, you can't keep this going," Nina says softly, stroking through Vanessa's hair.

 

Vanessa nods, slightly shivering.

 

"I know," she groans. "I know…"

 

Nina thinks about all the risks she always saw in this situation. She can't even begin to imagine how Daniela would react. Not to mention what to do with Usnavi's feelings in this mess… She hugs Vanessa tighter.

 

"I have to break up with him."

 

The word choice for a workplace affair surprises Nina but she doesn't comment on it. She feels almost guilty that she felt ready to tattle on Vanessa to Daniela just a few minutes ago − although she would be ready to do it if Vanessa kept things as they are. But Vanessa's repentance seems genuine as anything and she chooses to just be there for her friend.

 

She tells Benny the whole situation once she's back home and the baby is long asleep.

 

"Damn…"

 

He pulls her to his lap, cuddling her like he loves to do at night when it's just the two of them.

 

"Yeah! I mean, I was right, but I really didn't want to be right…"

 

"I'd had doubts as well," Benny admits. "I talked to him a few times and he seemed… I don't know, I didn't want to tell you until I was sure."

 

"Well, we're sure now."

 

She sighs and snuggles into him, his big arms around her. She wishes she could forget about everything now, just get confirmation that it's over and done for, and not have to give it an extra thought, but she knows nothing will be as simple.

 

"It's for the best, right?" She asks desperately.

 

He nods.

 

"You did what was right," he says. "Even if it pains you."

 

The painful part is not nearly over, she realizes the next day at work. The ride to the office is having to awkwardly deal with Usnavi being chipper, his good mood insufferably short-lived, she knows. It's hard to see him before the fall, to know what's coming. The next day is considerably less cheerful. Although they don't talk about it, she senses the sadness irradiating from him and tries to give him some extra kindness, to be strong for his softness, even though all she wants is melt into tears in his arms as well. Another day, and another, each one more painful than the next. She hasn't seen Vanessa since they talked that Sunday. And then, the next Monday comes and she doesn't see Usnavi at all on her way to work.

 

"Nina," Daniela says, entering her office like she owns it − which she technically does. "I need a favor."

 

It's not quite every day that she invites herself into Nina's office and Nina hopes she hasn't done anything wrong. Or worse, that Vanessa hasn't done anything wrong.

 

"Of course," Nina replies. "What is it?"

 

"Do find me a new assistant for Vanessa."

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Please comment if you've read this!!
> 
> Sidenote: the next two chapters will feature explicit content. Just so you know.


	2. Usnavi

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> This chapter is hella long, I'm sorry. I hope you'll enjoy it!

The day Juanito told him they were moving their hardware shop to another part of the city, Usnavi almost cried. He couldn't believe it, this little shop he'd worked at ever since he was out of high school. While Juanito and the shop could afford to move, could just leave the Heights like that, Usnavi never could. Leave his home and move to the Bronx? Not an option. He resigned that very day. He called Benny almost in tears, scared that he would never find a job again. It took six beers and a great deal of hugging to soothe him down, but one week has passed, and another, Usnavi leaving home all day, every day, making job hunting his job, and nothing has happened. They see the name, see the face, and tell him they're not looking for his profile.

 

"Are you gonna binge on that?" Sonny asks him as Usnavi visits the corner bodega held by his cousin.

 

Usnavi glares at him. So a man is not allowed to buy six bags of candy for himself anymore?

 

"If you must know, I was gon… Oh, hey Nina!"

 

Nina's grin when she notices him is worth everything. Usnavi melts into her arms, asks about Benny, about their baby, their lives, wonders if they're eating enough and, oh, by the way, isn't she looking for a cook or something? In that huge company of hers?

 

"Well, now that you mention it…" She says, tapping her chin. "Vanessa's looking for a new assistant. A friend of mine, her office's just across the hall."

 

"Oh, wow… Work with you?"

 

"With Vanessa," she smiles. "I'll drop your name by the right person if you want?"

 

He nods frantically at what can only be the greatest idea in the world. To celebrate, he shoves everything he can into Nina's cart and his own. Nothing like a good meal to be truly happy about good news.

 

The first day of work, he makes himself as handsome and well-kempt as he can, digging out his old suit that he hasn't worn in ages, trying to fix his hair. He hasn't ridden out of Washington Heights in years and makes sure to arrive well and early. So far so good. Nina even shows him around to the office where he's supposed to be working − a little bit messy, but he's so grateful for the opportunity he doesn't dare to comment on it. She explains the work to him and Usnavi pretends he doesn't feel completely out of depth.

 

 _The first morning is always the harshest_ , he tells himself. _It'll get easier. You'll get better. You can do this._ But as soon as Nina leaves the room and he tries to desperately sort through the files and folders, he finds that he forgets everything she so patiently explained to him and he's never felt so dumb in his life. As a last resort, he tells himself he can always say he received no explanation to the Ms García he's not sure he's ever met before, Nina's friend from work he must have heard about. Looking at the clock, he tells himself she must be arriving any minute and he'll just pretend that he just did as well. She'll teach him again, he'll understand, and everything will be fine.

 

The mess only slightly bothers him, he thinks at first, but the clock ticks slowly, way too slowly, and without knowing, he finds himself cleaning up everything he can, arranging the binders much more neatly, putting order back onto the two desks. Thank God for the wet wipes he always keeps in his pocket, for the layer of dust on the desk supposedly his own. It will never be so filthy again for as long as it's his. Twenty minutes pass, half an hour, and he tells himself he could keep at it for much longer with all the cleaning up left to be done. Don't they have a janitor in this part of the building? Should he have applied for that instead? He pours himself a cup of coffee from the pot he noticed in the break room down the hall. It's disgusting and he'll have to bring La Llave and real sugar from home, but in the meantime it'll do for a decent reward for his impromptu spring cleaning, he tells himself, sitting back at his desk to sip it.

 

The door pushes open just as he was considering trying to do the tasks Nina explained again. A woman walks in, or rather a goddess, he tells himself as soon as he sees her. Golden skin, long dark hair that she wears in side braid, a black suit sharply pressed, the skirt of it quite a bit shorter than the kind Nina always wears. Red lipstick. Usnavi's stomach tightens and he doesn't notice dropping his coffee cup until the boiling liquid spills all over his chest.

 

" _Carajo_ ," he mutters, then bites his lip for it. "Erm… I'm sorry…"

 

The woman stares at him incredulously, only now noticing his existence. Shame fills him all at once that this is the first time he's ever introduced to her and this is the first impression he chooses to make.

 

"You got a little shirt on your coffee," she says tauntingly and hands him a few tissues from her desk.

 

"Alright, I… erm…" He smiles, trying to make up for everything horrible she's surely thinking about him. Probably failing. "Sorry."

 

"I'll be just a second," she says and walks out of the room.

 

Usnavi blinks and just like that, she's gone. He shakes his head. Some part of him wants to crawl away under the desk and not leave for the rest of the week. His heart is beating like a drum inside his chest as he frantically tries to rub away the coffee, in vain. The longest minutes of his life go by before the woman walks back in.

 

"Vanessa O. García," she introduces herself, holding up her hand for him to shake (he suppresses the thought that he'd rather press a kiss on it). "So, you're my new assistant? Usnavi?"

 

He nods, embarrassed. So much for trying to look his best on his first day at García & García.

 

"Are you, erm, one of the Garcías?"

 

She'd been looking at the files on her desk (he suddenly hopes he didn't move anything of importance when he cleaned it up) but glances at him inquisitively.

 

"Of García & García?" He rescinds his earlier statement: now is the moment he has never felt so dumb in his life.

 

"I'm the second one," she smiles enigmatically and he's not quite sure if she's making fun of him. "Daniela García is the first."

 

He is _almost_ sure he's heard that name from Nina before.

 

"Oh. Erm…"

 

"Has someone explained the job to you?" She asks. Without asking for an answer, she goes on. "I'll show you."

 

She explains everything again and somehow, despite her lipstick, despite the way her hair flutters a bit out of her braid, despite the smell of coffee all over him (he should have brought an extra shirt just in case, he tells himself), despite her hand brushing over his sometimes by accident, he feels like things that were blurry when Nina tried to teach them have become much neater and he even feels like he could one day become competent at this. Sadly, not today.

 

"You'll also have to book hotels and flights for me for business trips, alright?" She adds to the ever long list of duties that are now his. "And open my mail for me. It's mostly emails."

 

He nods at every new thing. He feels like there are so many things Ms García knows that he is utterly clueless about, but one thing at a time, she's teaching him the ropes, though he's not sure how much he remembers. He learns what the company even is (and feels so ashamed in his own heart that he never really asked Nina about it before, her big office job that everyone is so proud of) and what his part in it is supposed to be. Instead of eating, he spends his lunch break writing down everything he's assigned to do, trying to make his notes as clear as can be.

 

"Oh, Usnavi?" Ms García asks before he leaves.

 

Usnavi has been trying not to stare all day and tries to control his hands shaking for the last time.

 

"Yes, ma'am?"

 

"Could you stay a bit later tomorrow?" She asks and he's not quite sure if he loves or hates the way she doesn't look at him when she speaks.

 

"Erm…"

 

"For work," she looks up and he wants to drown in her black eyes and die there, forever in heaven. "I think we ought to give you proper training."

 

"Oh, er, yes, of course, Ms García."

 

The day goes by in the blink of an eye and before Usnavi knows it, he's back home sinking into his bed, exhausted to have used every part of his brain at once all day long.

 

She's wearing her hair down the next day, tumbling down her back like a cascade of black waters. Her suit is dark blue with matching high heels and everything Usnavi needs to be looking away from. He greets her politely when she walks in. She smiles at him and his insides turn to mush. He knows that this is a feeling he ought to keep way buried in the back of his mind. When he sees Nina during a coffee break, he never even mentions Ms García, just to be sure. He thinks she might judge him if she heard what he had to say about her. Even in the closed walls of their office, no one can know anything. He pushes everything down and does his job the best he can. Which is so far not exceptionally well.

 

"Usnavi," Ms García calls out to him towards the end of their normal hours and he loves the way his name sounds in her mouth. "Come."

 

He jumps to his feet, trotting to her desk and tries to ignore the teasing smile he prompts from her. She hands him a few bills and as she sees him frowning, snorts and explains.

 

"Can you grab something from Burger King for me? If we're going to stay here at night…"

 

"Oh! Er, yes, of course!"

 

There's a whole new atmosphere to this building when the day is dying, he notices as he walks back into García & García after getting her takeaways from across the block. Almost everyone has gone and certainly everyone from their floor. He feels like a thief, walking the halls and seeing the sky turn to yellow and orange out the bay windows.

 

"Here you are," he puts down the bag and the change carefully in front of her.

 

"Thanks," she says. "You're an angel."

 

Her face shuts down after saying that and he shuffles on his feet, unsure what she's expecting him to do. A few long seconds of silence pass before she gestures him to his desk.

 

"You didn't grab yourself anything?" She asks. "There was enough for two."

 

"Er, I brought something already…" He says awkwardly, suddenly ashamed of his _pollo guisado_ he wrapped up yesterday when he knew he'd be staying late.

 

They sit at her desk, which she cleared to make a nice dinner table and he doesn't love how his old ice cream container contrasts with her disposable cardboard boxes. Ms García however, looks at the homemade dish with interest.

 

"Where'd you get this?"

 

"I made it," he says, pushing his food around in a way that would make his late Abuela gently scold him to stop playing with it.

 

She stops short of taking a big bite off her whopper.

 

"You cooked that?!"

 

"Erm, yeah… My mom taught me…"

 

He was going to dig in but there's something in his boss's eyes that makes him hesitate.

 

"Do you… wanna try it?"

 

" _Yes let's trade thank you_ ," she says in one quick breath and drops the hamburger in front of him, snatching his container for herself and before he knows it, she's taken the first bite and moaned in pleasure, her eyes closed. Usnavi's throat dries up all of a sudden and he grabs her cup of soda pop to try and regain countenance. "Oh my god, this is so good."

 

She gulfs down another few forkfuls, Usnavi staring at her appetite.

 

"How are you just an assistant?" She asks, leaning back on her chair more comfortably and he dares not look. "You should be a chef somewhere, open up your own restaurant."

 

"Well, erm, money…"

 

"Right," she replies, maybe a bit embarrassed.

 

He thought this was supposed to be a personal training for his job but the night goes on with much more talking than working. It's not just him doing the talking either. He learns that she's Mexican and not actually the daughter of Daniela García, who is Puerto Rican and took her under her wing many years ago. Ms García asks him about what he did before, about why he wanted this job, how he got to know Nina. Before he notices, the night has gone by, the moon up in the sky as he rides back to the Heights. Sleep finds him with difficulty that night as he desperately tries to suppress the images of Ms García smiling, chatting, listening.

 

The next day sees him getting trained with much more efficiency, his boss nothing but patient with him and his messes. It makes him want to be the best assistant the world has ever seen, for her to be proud that her teachings were not for nothing. With Nina, he tries to look the part of the professional man who knows what he's doing and every day, he feels more confident playing that role. It helps that Ms García never seems to judge him for his (initially way too many) mistakes. She smiles patiently, shakes her head, shows him where he went wrong. He feels like a little boy with her, a young pupil with the most beautiful teacher in the world. He has no idea what he's done to deserve it.

 

"Hey, Son'," he asks his cousin one day, grabbing a last minute coffee and snack from the bodega before work.

 

"What's up?" Sonny asks, hiding a yawn. With the commute, Usnavi is forced to visit the bodega much earlier than he did before, right at opening. He wonders if Sonny would open later if he decided to forgo his morning visit by the bodega.

 

"Am I interesting?" He asks and hates how ridiculous the words sound even to him.

 

Sonny blinks a few times. He looks like he's trying to decide whether he heard it right or the morning is playing a trick on him this early.

 

"Would you say I'm an interesting man?" Usnavi repeats.

 

"I mean…"

 

"If I met someone new and they talked to me a lot, is that weird or something?"

 

"Cuz, I have no idea what you're going on about, but if it's a trick, it's six in the morning, can you wait until at least nine?"

 

Usnavi shakes his head and pretends it was nothing, but the question is gnawing at him. It's not like Ms García is pouring her soul at him, of course, nothing that extravagant. He's not an intimate. But she chats with him every morning when she walks in (always later than him, and as much as he appreciates being on his own, he also feels like the sun has only truly risen once she's with him), enjoys the occasional coffee break in their office just the two of them when he brings her a cup to her taste, asks him about the job, the coworkers, the projects, seems to actually listen to his moods and opinions. Usnavi feels valued in a way he never expected to, working in a big company under the second biggest boss. He never feels stupid anymore, not with Ms García's smiles and chats and questions.

 

"So, you doing alright at G&G?" Benny asks on a night out at the bar without Nina − Usnavi once invited her to join them there, but she claims that she doesn't mind a night at home with the baby and Usnavi takes that to mean she wants the house to herself every once in a while and he hasn't insisted on her presence.

 

"I'm doing great," Usnavi grins, hiding away the thoughts constantly running his mind, Ms García the ever present background of his inner workings. "A bit tired. But great."

 

"You work a lot," Benny comments, sipping his beer. "You like the job, right?"

 

"I love it," Usnavi answers truthfully. "Did you know that the company has branches in like, fifteen other countries? I thought it was just American. I learned that the other day."

 

"Dude, my wife's the CFO, I better know that kind of things."

 

Benny smirks, but Usnavi feels fondness behind the teasing.

 

"You look happy," he adds simply, patting Usnavi's shoulder. "It's nice to see."

 

Usnavi laughs breathlessly, only because he cannot find anything to reply.

 

"Let's hope we'll get a nice celebration dinner every paycheck you get," Benny jokes. "I'm still full from last time."

 

"Well, I still wear the tie she gave me," Usnavi says. "Nina said I looked very elegant with it, if you gotta know."

 

"I'm sure she did."

 

At the job, he often feels like he's nothing short of ragged and disheveled, but only because he has the best dressed woman in all of New York to compare himself to every day. He does his best. He thought Ms García didn't mind (she must be used to being the loveliest girl in the room, he's sure) until he shows up with his spare suit one day too many, the one that too many washes have worn out a little bit. He's about to sit at his desk when she grabs his arm. He tries not to flinch, afraid to be awkward. He's never really been able to suffer being touched by pretty women without his body reacting.  Even the thoughts of her cause a great deal of reactions these days, when he lets himself.

 

"Usnavi?"

 

He gulps and cannot find the simplest words to answer. She tied her hair again, trying to be so perfectly immaculate, but he notices the way a few rebel strands always try to make their escape from the braid, like there is something about Ms García that can never be tamed. Her eyes are deeper and blacker from up close. He blinks.

 

"We're gonna buy you some new clothes."

 

Her tone doesn't allow for any replies, though he has plenty in mind. He tries to hide his unease but she slides her hand up to his shoulder − he almost shiver against the feel of her palm on his arm − and squeezes affectionately.

 

"On the company," she says, pulling a credit card out of nowhere. "Don't feel guilty. I must have an impeccable assistant."

 

Usnavi feels naughty around Ms García most of the time, guilty of his too many thoughts he has never been able to push back deep enough, guilty of his dreams, guilty of the terrible, disgusting showers he takes every morning. Today, as they leave their work place to get him a fancy suit, he feels naughty about cheating the company of so much money all for the sake of getting him decent clothes. He's not worth that.

 

"Isn't this place, erm…"

 

He tries to find the word to describe the fashion house they walk in but too many would fit. Too big. Too expensive. Completely inadequate for a poor little assistant from the Heights. Too grand, when he is just a normal sweaty boy.

 

"I own it," Ms García replies and that's the end of that.

 

She chooses the suit she wants on him. He feels naughty about that too. Black is his color, she says when he tries to grab a bright blue one that catches his eye. He nods and complies. She shoves what feels like a mountain of garments into his arms and pushes him into a changing booth and before Usnavi knows it, he's in his briefs and tank with barely a curtain separating him from his superior. And he's a horny idiot at the thought.

 

"Does it fit?" She asks.

 

"Erm…"

 

He's not sure of anything, of course, except that if she were to open that curtain right now, she would see him almost naked. Of course, there's nothing to him that would excite her, assuredly, but just the thought that maybe, possibly… Usnavi has never been a deviant, or at least he prides himself in that thought, but the fantasies surrounding Ms García since the first day become hard and harder to ignore. He tries to put on the pants, the crisp shirt, the vest, but his hands seem made of cotton balls and he only manages to look like an idiot who struggles with something as basic as dressing himself. And that ridiculous stupid nasty bulge in his boxers… _The worst assistant in the world_ , he tells himself. _Why is she even paying this for you?_

 

"Let me see," she says and opens the curtain sharply.

 

"NO!" He cries out, covering himself in shame.

 

"Oh."

 

She closes the curtain just as fast as she's opened it and Usnavi doesn't know if he's imagining her cheeks so red or if it's just his own projection. His face feels puffy and hot and he hates his entire scrawny self. Heartbeat so quick it's almost painful, he manages to pull the jacket on, though he's sure his erection must be obvious to the entire world and certainly to her, and yet the more he wills himself soft, the harder he gets. Is she going to fire him? Is he going to become destitute, labeled a pervert to the eyes of any future employer?

 

"Have you put it on?" She asks after a while, hand playing with the edge of the curtain.

 

He frowns, not quite sure what she means. How can she ask that? How is she not asking him to get away from her forever, to disappear from García & García this minute?

 

"Yes," he answers uneasily.

 

She opens the curtain cautiously, just enough to glance inside. His pulse is a loud thrum at his temples and worse, between his legs. He is all too aware of his own body and yet… Her eyes appraise him from head to toe and, though he feels like he's been caught dead in a trap, she nods. Her face gives nothing away, neither disgust nor pleasure.

 

"It fits," she simply says and walks away, gesturing for him to follow her.

 

Usnavi scrambles to gather his old garments in his arms in front of him to protect his dignity, though a series of employees rush to help him to the task.

 

"We'll get three," she tells one of them. "Two black, one in navy. To be delivered at the García Tower on earliest notice."

 

"Yes, ma'am," the employee bows his head. "Of course, ma'am."

 

After the incident at the fashion house, Usnavi loses any understanding of the situation between him and Ms García. He never pretended to have any grasp on it before, but it seemed to him that they were boss and employee with a clear cut boundary drawn between them. Is it normal for a boss to buy clothes for her assistant? He does feel slightly less inadequate in important meetings now, but was it worth the embarrassment? Usnavi lives in fear that Ms García is only playing a nasty joke on him.

 

Nothing in her actions suggests it, he reassures himself. There's a tenderness to her that he wants to believe he's not inventing. She smiles at him maybe a little too much, more than she used to. She asks just one question too much every day. She gives him just the tiniest sliver of hope he's not allowed to have. Usnavi's evenings get more and more agitated before going to sleep and he desperately invents himself a persona around Nina, pretends to be the best assistant in the world who is also an upright man of pure thoughts.

 

"Urgh," Ms García grunts, pulling her arms above her head, stretching herself in all her length.

 

Usnavi keeps his eyes on his screen, revising her planner once more, adding the appointments she asked him to schedule this morning. He is nothing if not focused on his work.

 

"My neck hurts," she complains, palming the back of her neck.

 

"I could get you a massage," he blurts out before he can stop himself.

 

He meant to say he could add in an appointment to her favorite spa but he sees in her eyes that she immediately understood something else. Worse, he sees that she _wants_ something else.

 

"Erm…"

 

Ms García stares for the heaviest seconds of his life. Usnavi wonders if he'll just have to get used to feeling like he might get fired any moment. He'll have to if he keeps being an idiot.

 

"Well, come on, then," she says eventually with a bit of mood. "Don't offer if you're not gonna do it."

 

He takes every step towards her with the greatest caution, scared but enthralled by the way she pushes her hair out of the way, the way she smiles almost shyly. Is she feeling the same guilt that devours him? But the second he stands behind her and his palms brush against her shoulders, he feels her melting into his touch like softened butter and he knows that this is a naughty secret he will never dare to mention out loud for fear of it being cut short.

 

"Oh, Usnavi, that feels great," she whispers and he feels his dick stir up at her words. _Not now_ , he scolds himself. _You're a disgusting boy_.

 

In truth, Usnavi is more in his comfort zone than one might think. Abuela Claudia used to have back pains and he'd often offer to help out. If only she knew how he's using those skills now, she might pass on a second time.

 

"I'm glad," he whispers back.

 

Could she fire him for that? For wanting her to feel good? But she has no way to know all the fantasies he's worked up around that thought in his perverted little brain. He already knows he'll be adding one tonight. How odd, he reflects, that he is the one rubbing the shoulders, and yet _he_ finds himself more and more relaxed as he goes.

 

The spell breaks in a fraction of a second, like a storm unleashing and killing him dead, or so it feels judging by the spike in his heartbeat as soon as Nina opens the door and finds them in such a compromising position. His body forgets how to move, hands stopped at Ms García's shoulders, and he has a million things to say but none make it past his lips. Nina stares, entirely immobile, the paper at her hand dropping to the floor and the question she had before completely forgotten.

 

"Usnavi, leave us, please," she says sternly and he feels like a little boy stuck between two grown-ups about to fight.

 

"This isn't what it looks like!" He tries desperately, stepping away from Ms García who remains so much more dignified than him even in the eye of the hurricane. "I only just…"

 

_I only just obey whatever Ms García says, even if she asked me to jump out this window? I only just feel love and desire for her like nothing before and it's eating me up every minute I spend around her? I only just found the most beautiful woman in the world at this job and if she's going to ask for a neck massage, she'll get a hundred?_

 

" _Usnavi_ ," Nina insists with the Mrs Rosario voice she inherited that terrifies him and he dashes away for fear she'll bring out the sandal.

 

For safety, he makes himself useful around the rest of the building for a while before daring to pop back into their office.

 

Benny is late to their guys night that evening.

 

"Sorry, man, I was…"

 

He trails off awkwardly and Usnavi tries to persuade himself that this cannot possibly have anything to do with him. But there is something serious in Benny's eyes as he looks at him, something Usnavi doesn't like, shrouding over the usual good cheer on his best friend's face. Benny orders himself a shot and gulps it down as soon as he gets it, then gets himself a beer.

 

"Usnavi, are you sleeping with your boss?" He asks quietly once the bartender is out of earshot.

 

Usnavi whimpers in embarrassment. He should have seen this coming. He has. _If only_ is his first thought. His second is _Why is anyone interested in my dirty thoughts all of a sudden?_

 

"No, I'm not," he says firmly, sipping on his cocktail, thirsty out of nowhere.

 

He wants to add more, to justify himself even though he knows he's saying the exact truth, to ask what Nina has said, but he's afraid his words will incriminate him beyond the actions he has _not_ been a part of.

 

"You can tell me, alright," Benny smiles and for the first time ever, it looks forced. "I ain't gonna judge, you know me."

 

 _But Nina would_ , Usnavi thinks, the utter shock and horror on her face still fresh in his mind.

 

"There's nothing to judge. I'm not sleeping with anyone. Not Ms García, not anybody else."

 

"You'd tell me, right? You always tell me."

 

"Of course," Usnavi lies. "Yeah, I'd tell you. Listen, I don't know what Nina said but we was only just…"

 

"We don't want you to get hurt, okay?" Benny says, reaching over to mess with Usnavi's hair. "Or to feel pressured. It's like, _illegal_."

 

How could Ms García ever hurt him by granting him his deepest wish? How could she force him to do what he's been craving so harshly? But Usnavi just nods and Benny knows not to insist. In tacit agreement, they don't mention the situation the rest of the night.

 

Ms García sends him an email on his work address that very night, much too late and he probably would have been deep in bed if he hadn't gone out with Benny. He briefly wonders if she's been spying on him to be aware of that, but shakes his head and tries to control his anxiety as he opens it.

 

_Mr De la Vega,_

_Please be aware that we will be both departing from the John F. Kennedy International Airport at 11:08 am tomorrow morning. Your presence is expected three hours before departure to Washington DC to negotiate the terms of a renewed commercial contract with an important business partner. Be sure to pack for three days of travel._

_Regards,_

_Vanessa Otilia García_

 

He reads and re-reads the email so many times he knows it by heart by the time he gets another notification from an address he has never seen before. Frowning, he reads that yogi_catl0ver420 just sent him three emails in a row. On the personal address he's fairly sure he has never shared at work.

 

_bring the suits I bought you, you look nice in them_

 

…

 

_this is vanessa_

 

…

 

_*Vanessa García. I meant you look professional._

 

Usnavi has never felt more confused in his life. Springing out of bed, he packs a small suitcase for three days out of town. He can't even remember the last time he left New York City and he's pretty sure he's never been to DC in his life. And why is she telling him about this only now? And why just him?

 

She offers no answers the next day, meeting him at the airport in a tight elegant black dress that says she means business. He thinks about maybe asking the questions on his heart, but there's a seriousness to her face he doesn't want to confront. During the flight, she reads some sci-fi novel he's never heard of and he is way too busy looking out the window, amazed at the sight, to try and talk to her.

 

This is Usnavi's first business trip and, despite the awkwardness, despite the silence growing between him and Ms García when they're just on their own, he wants to do her proud. All day, he does his best as they go through meetings with whatever partners they're trying to charm into a new deal with García & García. The suit she requested him to wear is impeccably pressed and he can only hope that he looks as nice as she said. He smiles, makes himself forgotten when he's not needed but keeps his attention fully up, focused on the task of helping her. She's implacable in meetings, of course, blows his mind several times in one day. He never expected otherwise, but it's one thing to see her amaze everyone at their company, and then something else to see her outsmart their business partners.

 

It's a very long day that bites off a large chunk of their night as well and he's never felt as socially and mentally exhausted as when he finally gets to have time on his own for the first time after four different appointments with as many people. Ms García booked the hotel, even though it's supposed to be his job, but she did it right: Usnavi has never seen such luxury in his life. Rich minimalist furniture that looks more expensive than his entire neighborhood, large windows with thick curtains he makes sure to close before dropping on his king-sized bed, deep and more comfortable than he's ever known. The next day, their first meeting is scheduled at 10 am and Usnavi feels that this gives him permission to grant himself a long nice cozy evening on his own. He's allowed to treat himself.

 

"Oh…" He lets out when he sees the bathroom.

 

Bathtub as big as his bed at home, bigger even, with a dozen different shampoo bottles on the side, thick fluffy towels embroidered with the hotel chain's logo on a self-warming rack, a shower booth that could probably fit six or eight of him if they squeezed into it. He'll have to try all the settings, some mindless fun to clear his mind. Maybe later, he thinks, or even in the morning because there is a whole other kind of thoughts surging in the theater of his mind again and those thoughts have waited all day. He's not going to deny them much longer.

 

He changes into his sleepwear, feeling so completely out of place in his white tank top and old sweatpants he's had since he was a teen. Already his body is taking advance on his actions and he's barely laid under the gorgeous thick covers, sliding a hand under his waistband, secretive for no reason, that his dick is getting rock hard. That dress today, and admittedly everything she wears on any given day, has had quite an effect on him and even more so than pleasure, relief fills him as he begins to stroke himself quickly. _Wait_ , he thinks. _Take your time. Enjoy_. There's still the rest of the night.

 

The best fantasies aren't even the ones that make him finish before he's even started. Those are for the showers anyway, when he pictures his lovely boss in the most daring positions, doing the most marvelous things to him. In his dreams, she wants him and takes what she wants, as demanding in bed as she is with her subordinates (though never with him). In his dreams, he gets to see what his mind can only imagine underneath those fancy clothes that cover so much skin he craves to reveal. Those images are good, better than good, but the best fantasies of all are the most tame ones. Ms García's kisses. Cuddly morning sex after sleeping in each other's embrace. Whispers and sweet nothings as their bodies meet as close as two people could possibly be. _Those_ are the best scenarios, being not just Ms García's naughty assistant but her lover, her cherished one. In a way, they're the most forbidden thoughts of all.

 

There's a rapping at his door and Usnavi freezes in place, his hand dumbly clutched around his dick. He feels like an utter idiot and, huffing like a pig, he tucks himself back into his pants, struggling to tie them back in place and rub his hand clean on his tank top. Another knock.

 

"Yeah, yeah…"

 

He has no idea who he was expecting, but of course, of _fucking_ course Ms García is at the door when he opens. His face burns, mouth gaping open as he takes the situation in. Is this a God sent? How could he be masturbating a minute ago, and the object of his desires turn up at his doorstep wearing no more than the hotel's slippers and bathrobes − and whatever is hiding underneath. A hand that was hiding behind her back reaches forward, holding a magnum bottle of champagne.

 

"So, I got you a present…"

 

He blinks a few times and wants to pinch himself, to slap himself, but if this is a dream, he wants it to come to fruition before waking up, thank you very much. He steps aside and lets Ms García walk into the dimly lit hotel room and the atmosphere isn't lost even on him, clueless as he is. Looking right and left into the corridor, he finds it empty and silently closes the door tight, locking them inside from any intruders.

 

"Y… Yes, Ms García?"

 

She discards her slippers and sits on the bed like a luscious goddess who knows she is worth a thousand times more than any mere mortal. Her legs are showing, almost the entire length of them, brown and long and gorgeous. In his pants, Usnavi's erection throbs. This is either the worst of times for her to invite herself in, or the very, very best. He dares not hope.

 

"There's always a packed mini-bar in those hotels," she says, handing him the bottle to uncork. "I thought you might want a little company after a long day. We've almost closed the deal."

 

He smiles nervously and tries to unwrap the gold shit off the bottle, with little success. _It's better to look at this than her_ , he tells himself. _You can control yourself if you focus on this. Don't let yourself be distracted. Don't let her know you're like this._

 

"I've been thinking about you a lot, Usnavi," she says. "Not just today."

 

He sits next to her on the bed and doesn't miss the way she leans slightly into him, for all he tries to keep his eyes exclusively on this champagne bottle.

 

"I'm not sure if we got glasses," he says apologetically. "Maybe in the bathroom, they put some… Or room service but I think that's expensive, right?"

 

"Tonight," she says softly and her hand reaches over to rest on his thigh, maybe a bit too high, too uncomfortable for his dignity if he wants to keep his job as a non-gross assistant at García & García. "We're drinking straight from the bottle."

 

He looks up at her words and finds the magic of her dark eyes pouring straight into his, the mystery in them unveiling. He gulps. It's better to not understand, it's better to not give himself any fancy ideas. Then he doesn't risk building up any hopes that will only lead to disappointment when he realizes he was interpreting things wrong. Ms García smiles, her secret smile that gives nothing away. Her hand reaches up and strokes across his cheek ever so lightly.

 

"Do you like champagne?" She asks and the cork pops up in the air, hitting the ceiling.

 

"Shit!" He cries out as the champagne gushes out, a dark stain on the expensive floor, but Ms García only shakes her head gently and grabs the bottle. With her mouth, she stops the eruption, gulping down a few deep mouthfuls flowing out it, curbing this disaster. She hands it back to him, looks down at the bottle then back at him intently, a silent permission to let him take some, to put his mouth where hers has been. His heart is pounding. The champagne is a blessed relief down his throat, ice cold when the entire body of his is burning.

 

"You've been so good today, Usnavi," she says and he loves how gently his name comes out, loves the way her eyes flutter when she looks at him. Her hand is back on his thigh. He feels hot, but less sharply than before, a dull sort of warmth taking over him. His pants are too thin, way too indiscreet, and yet… And yet, Ms García's hand reaches higher and higher up his thigh, not touching him so overtly but in his mind, she might as well be for how hard his dick is getting. He has no idea what is happening, but this dream is the most beautiful thing he's ever experienced. "You're always so good to me."

 

"I'm not, I'm…" His words get stuck in his throat when she sits much closer, pushing the bottle away with her other hand, putting it down on the bed stand where they don't need it. Her legs are showing again, they're on his bed, on Usnavi's bed as she tucks them under her and he almost sees what's hiding between them through the flaps of the robes. Almost.

 

"What can I say or do to possibly repay you for your kindness?"

 

Her lips are so close to his ear they're almost brushing against it, her breath warm against him. Her hand squeezes. If this is a dream, then Usnavi might as well be dead by the time morning comes, but he'll have died a beautiful death.

 

"Anything," he breathes out. "You can do anything you want. I… I wanna…"

 

Her hand closes around his dick through his pants and they were too light before but have never felt so thick than now that he craves the feel of her palm directly on him. He moans, his hips bucking up once, too sharply, head throwing back. She rests her chin on his shoulder, lips pressing down on his neck in what is not quite a kiss.

 

"So good," she repeats. "Do you want me to…"

 

"Yes," he cuts her. He doesn't even care what she might offer. He's up for it all. "Yes, please."

 

Gently, she pushes on his chest to make him lie back on the bed and, staring at the ceiling, he believes he is in fact already dead, because this can't be anything short of heaven. She sits up right, looking down on him and he's not sure he even begins to understand the layers of what her face is showing. He ought to squeeze his eyes shut for fear of getting overwhelmed, but if Ms García is what is overwhelming him, then he won't miss a second of it. Her hand is still painfully wrapped around his dick and he does his very best to not pump into it, to not look like an eager young boy on the verge of his first time.

 

"Are you comfortable?" She asks. He frowns at the question − how could he possibly not be? − and she laughs silently, shaking her head. "Do you want this?"

 

Her thumb is playing with his head through the pants and he's afraid he's going to show a wet mark if she keeps going like this.

 

"Y… Yeah…"

 

She grants him the needed relief of at least tugging his pants down and he sighs out heavily, but her hand briefly stays flat on his belly, patient even in this.

 

"I like you a lot," she says and it comes more like a whisper, like a confession. "I really, _really_ want this."

 

His heart triples in size, but all its blood is only converging in one place, it seems. He feels like an idiot. A wanted idiot.

 

"Me too," he says, his head burying back into the covers as she takes him back in hand and strokes him slowly, tightly. "God, me too…"

 

She hums and leans down to lick the underside of his dick in one long stroke, before taking the head in her mouth, sucking on it. He groans loudly. His brain cannot seem to process any information his rational self is giving him. How is any of what is happening to him real? How can he be lying in a filthy rich hotel room with his boss's mouth around his dick? His fists wrap into the sheets almost violently and he fights with every ounce of his body to not jerk up into her bobbing.

 

"Oh my god…"

 

She plops his wet dick out with a silly sliding sound, stroking him at the base.

 

"You like that?"

 

"I love it, I'm… Oh my god…"

 

A hand delicately wrapping around his balls, massaging them, and the other gripping his thigh, manicured nails digging into his skin, her mouth is bringing him places he never thought were within his reach. He wonders how he could ever find jerking off pleasurable when this alternative exists. His own hand is nothing compared to Ms García, nothing at all. He might as well have been scratching his ear.

 

"I'ma… I'm sorry, Ms García, I'ma…"

 

She can't not have heard him, he tells himself. She can't not have known, but he hates himself for shooting into her mouth, and so soon, even though she keeps going through his climax, refuses to let him spill anywhere else. There's fireworks in his mind, a whole orchestra too, and her hand milks the last of him before letting go with a satisfied wet _pop_. He ought to feel guilty, is his first thought as soon as the last of his orgasm has passed. The rumors were founded after all and Nina is going to be furious, if she ever learns. But the way Ms García smiles at him lazily, licking her lips, and lets her bathrobe slide off her shoulders just for him, only for him, Usnavi knows that guilt is the last thing on his mind for the rest of the night. There is nothing at all under that bathrobe, he's sure, as he sees her bare shoulders. He wants to see the rest.

 

"Erm…" His mouth feels very dry and he sits up, unsure what she's expecting him to do.

 

Cautiously, afraid to be rejected, he puts a hand on her thigh and almost shivers at the softness of it, so hot under his touch. She nods encouragingly and he slides up and up and still no garment stopping him. She stares into his eyes, shifts her legs a bit more open and his fingers butt against the patch of hair between them, slick with her own pleasure. He's feeling dizzy, feverish already. This is _his_ doing.

 

"Can I… I mean…"

 

"Suit yourself," she says and shrugs off her bathrobe entirely.

 

 _Okay_ , he thinks, _so_ this _is how I die_. His brain is short-circuiting, unable to process how such a superb woman would grant him a moment of her time, let alone invite herself in his bed. With an unknown courage, he dares to get much closer, to reach out, hand gently cupping the small swell of her breast. His thumb brushes against a nipple, delicately circling around it and gets rewarded by a low moan. Emboldened, he leans down to press kisses on the other one, his mouth covering her chest with caresses.

 

"Usnavi…"

 

Her fingers comb through his hair then settle on his shoulder, so light, and he never knew she'd be afraid to touch him too forcefully. Her other hand takes his, still down between her beautiful legs where he hasn't found the courage to take the extra next step to please her. She wraps her thin fingers around his wrist, barely a suggestion, not ordering him to do anything but presenting the option. Usnavi whimpers weakly, his fingers craving the heat. He finds her clit and how contentedly she sighs when he presses onto it, plays with it.

 

"You're so good to me…"

 

She doesn't know, it seems, that she is the one who is blessing him. His heart is so loud at his temples he has no idea if they're being too loud for anyone to hear. But then, that's a worry he only needed to have as a poor little horny teenage boy, who had to get secretive handjobs behind bushes in Fort Washington Park because he didn't dare bring a girl home and risk Abuela Claudia hearing anything she shouldn't. But Usnavi De la Vega, Direction's Assistant at García & García, is in a luxurious hotel making love to the most awe-inspiring woman in the world. And he can make her be as loud as she pleases.

 

His fingers dip lower where the wet warmth of her devours them, two fingers pushing in effortlessly, soon a third as she presses down onto his hand, begging for more. In his mouth, her nipple is hard and delicious and he switches to the other one to make it as red and pretty as its twin. Slowly, Ms García pulls on him as she lies back on the huge bed and the sight of her, her bathrobe discarded on the floor, is lovelier than anything Usnavi has ever laid eyes on in his life. His dick is pressing against her thigh, growing hard again and he doesn't dare touch himself, for fear he would burst immediately. It's all so much to take in. He sits up abruptly to take a good look at it all, to burn it in memory, maybe the best and last one he'll ever get. Ms García moans and tries to coax him back against her, pulling his hand back where it was, but Usnavi finds he has another idea.

 

"Can I, erm…"

 

He glances down at her entirely exposed naked body, licks his lip unconsciously. She gets him without having to beg − though he would've.

 

"Please," she says. "Eat me out. If you want."

 

Her words are bliss to his ears and he's already storing them away for future reference on the loneliest of nights. He rearranges himself between her legs and the angle of her looking down at him is enough to make him groan. Diving in immediately, he captures her thick clit between his lips. She tastes clean and perfect, and he thinks she might be fresh out of a shower before finding her way to his room, and smells of sex and desire. Her hand combs through his hair again before she catches herself. Usnavi doesn't understand why she thinks he won't like that.

 

"Sorry, I…"

 

"Please," he begs. "I… I like when you grab my hair."

 

There is nothing he loves more than this, how she nods and lets herself grab tightly onto his hair as he devours the choice part of her, lapping at her clit, fingers toying underneath, dipping lightly, teasing. Her nails scratch his scalp and she apologizes, because she still doesn't know how much he craves this, how he needs to know how good he makes her feel. In his mind, he is filled with the sudden clarity that he has reached the peak moment of his short life. He will never do anything as important as this again. He craves her so much he could spell out a whole book of love letters on her clit and never grow tired of it. Under his hand at her thigh, her muscles are tense and her feet cross over his back, heels digging into him.

 

"Usnavi, that feels so good," she moans and nothing he's ever achieved before could be as great an accomplishment.

 

He doesn't reply, because no word coming out of his mouth could possibly be more important than what he is employing it at. His dick is rubbing against the expensive sheet and he fights to not grind into it, to make Ms García's pleasure his one and only priority. He does get her to that point, thank God − how embarrassing, how shameful to not be enough for her when they've gone this far already? But he feels her pulsing around his fingers, clamping on him as she lets out a groan and her hips push up despite herself. Her fingers are tighter in his hair and he tries to keep at it exactly how it has worked so far. He would stay there much longer if it weren't for Ms García pushing on his shoulders after the last shivers have run through her.

 

"C'mere," she says, unwrapping her legs from him, opening them so beautifully. "But get my robe first."

 

From the pocket of the bathrobe he picks up for her, she pulls a condom and his mouth gapes open in disbelief that they will actually go this far as well as what they've done already. But before he can get it from her, she _tssk_ s and gestures for him to stand up, before catching herself again. He wishes she knew she can order him around as much as she wants.

 

"Sorry, erm. Do you wanna take these off?" She gestures at him.

 

He realizes how silly he looks next to her naked self, with just his dick popped out of his sweatpants but otherwise fully dressed and he gets naked as fast as he ever has in his life, because he doubts she would much appreciate a show if it was by him anyways. He bounces back on the bed and she smirks at his enthusiasm. Suddenly self-conscious, he scratches the back of his head but there is no place in his brain for anxiety when she coils her hands around his dick to pump him fully hard and masterfully unwraps the condom along his length in one quick move.

 

"Wow."

 

"I've had my share of fun," she shrugs and he feels maybe he should avoid the subject. "Come."

 

Her legs wrap around his waist as she drags him down with her. He falls onto her chest with a muffled groan, but then it's all worth it for the giggle she lets out before putting a hand onto her mouth, embarrassed. He smiles and, in a spur of courage, grabs the hand away and presses a kiss on its palm. Their fingers entwine, hot palms meeting, and with the other, he guides himself inside her. He could just faint for how hot she is, how snug around him. His pulse is almost painful so hard it courses through him and he pauses before even getting fully in. Ms García wraps a soft arm around his waist.

 

"Usnavi?" She asks gently. "Are you…"

 

"I'm fine!" He hastens to reply. He pushes in till he's entirely sheathed in her and, taken by emotions, has to lean down and rest his forehead on hers. "I'm much, much better than fine."

 

How unbelievable this whole situation, he tells himself, the woman of his dreams coming onto him like this, and now their bodies making one. The rush of the first orgasm has gone, the pace less precipitated, and Usnavi is so much more content for this odd intimacy that has settled onto them before he could notice it. They almost look like they're dancing, he notes, hands clasped together one one side, grabbing onto each other with the other. What a peculiar kind of dance. He should take up lessons.

 

"I'm so lucky," he says before he can stop his big mouth.

 

How very, very close they are, and how big and black her thin eyes from so near. She stares for a few seconds, the smile on her face fading, and he's afraid she might not want this after all and ask him to stop it all but before he can scramble off, she leans up and kisses him full on the mouth. Her lips are soft but firm under his, the taste of champagne still on her tongue. She pulls away after just a few short seconds, much too short, only to get a good look at him. The smile that follows is the sweetest thing Usnavi has ever seen and he can't help but lean down and kiss her again − and again, and again. He starts to rock his hips into hers and with every thrust, he is overwhelmed by how good she feels.

 

"I'm the lucky one," she whispers, reaching up to caress his face, the touch so intimate and tender, like a long lost lover she's finding again. "I l… I like you so much."

 

How perfect this moment, her body embracing him, the sweet kisses they share. He's feeling like an idiot, of course, because he hasn't had sex in quite a while and he's sure she knows he's rusty, the way he moves too erratic as he tries to curb his desire for as long as he can, but you wouldn't know from the way she holds him. Every time he pushes in, she gives him a little moan and he wishes he could hear her so every day of his life. Her legs wrap around his waist so tight and the angle makes him crazy.

 

"You've wanted this?" She asks, playing with his hair, pressing kisses on his cheeks, his jaw. "Was this what you've wanted?"

 

"Every day," he admits. He pulls out almost entirely and she sighs amorously when he pushes back in all at once. He's not anything special, he knows, just a normal dude with a normal dick, but she makes him feel like the hottest guy on the beach. "I've thought about this every day."

 

She kisses him ever passionately at that, like he's just passed the test. Without telling him anything, she pulls her legs even higher, over his shoulders, crossing behind his neck and folded over herself like that, he thinks she might be her prettiest. The angle is insufferably hot. He feels like the king of the world.

 

"Oh my god…"

 

He tries to go deeper, more intense, to give her whatever she wants. Their bodies rock together and he stops caring about being ridiculous. If he is, then she takes him as such, for all the love she gives him undeserved. He feels her hand reach between them to rub at her clit and he tries to help, their fingers joining to give her the pleasure she should always have. Her legs are a vice around him and he feels his stomach starting to tense up in prevision of the pleasure to come, but he won't let himself go first. Not before Ms García has had her fill. He presses down heavier on her clit, kisses her with intent, and he knows by her hips rolling into him that she can't be that far off.

 

"Usnavi…" She moans as her walls clamp around him, almost too tight, and the beat of her pulsing against his dick is impossible. He's never heard as beautiful a sound.

 

"Ms García, I'm…"

 

He closes his eyes through the last seconds of it, dragging them as long as he can as he empties himself in the condom. He almost feels like he's just had sex for the first time, so overwhelming it was. Even when he's done and he feels himself soften a little, his senses are still heightened and he feels every caress her fingers trace on his shoulders. Slowly, she unwraps her legs from him, drops them back on the bed, still snug against him.

 

"Get rid of it quick," she says. "I'd like to hold you."

 

He leaves her embrace almost reluctantly to throw away the condom, takes a couple of minutes in the bathroom to clean things up and wash his red, puffy face after everything they've done. What he sees in the mirror isn't appealing in the least, he's sure, his hair all over the place, but then Ms García calls out to him like a soft kitty lost from its mom and he trots back to her.

 

"I loved this," she slurs as she settles into his arms over the covers, too hot to nestle under them.

 

His heartbeat is slowly starting to fade back to normal and reality hits him again, square in the face, that what they have done is profoundly forbidden. His hands start to fidget on her back, tapping tunelessly, and he never knew she was aware of his anxiety but she kisses his shoulder and leans up on her elbow to look at him in the eyes.

 

"What's up, Usnavi?"

 

He's sure they should talk about everything. Do they have plans beyond spending the night together in his bed? Will she be gone by morning? What about work, what about Nina, what about Daniela García? What does she mean by saying she likes him a lot? Is he a good assistant? Is he what she wanted?

 

"Nothin'," he withers away and finds a quick cover up. "I was trying to find something smart and nice to say… "

 

She smiles and leans down to kiss him, just a peck, way more tender than the kiss of a boss who just slept with her employee.

 

"And what did you come up with?"

 

"Erm… The only room with a view is a room with you in it?"

 

She laughs and after a few awkward seconds, so does he. She wraps an arm around his neck as she settles back into his side, sighing contentedly.

 

"Not bad," she says. "You should be a writer."

 

The next day, Usnavi is certain that he's having a little taste of heaven on earth. He gets to see things never meant for the eyes of a poor little assistant. Ms García sleeps much later than him and though he tries his best to get up and stay busy despite her in his bed, he loses his resolve almost immediately and simply lies back down next to her, marveling at the swelling of her chest with each breath, the sight of her tousled hair which he knows is not just from the sleep but from him and what they've done. He pretends to just be waking up when she does, of course, and he gets to see her squinting eyes in the morning struggling to stay open. They kiss, of course, and of course he goes down on her once, then a second and third. He's glad she let him. They shower together and she dips down to her knees to suck him off, a gorgeous nymph out of the most wonderful myths, water streaming through her gorgeous hair. He lathers her up, rinses her way too many times for the sight of her wet skin.

 

She disappears back into her room to get ready and gets back out looking like the boss of García & García she is. The magic lingers a little bit longer, even through breakfast in the hotel diner. He can't stop looking at her, so fancy in her dark suit, tight blazer and tighter skirt, and he can't take a bite when he keeps thinking about what's underneath. But despite her smiles and the nice conversation she makes, he gets the impression that they are back to boss and assistant about to hold a business meeting. He smiles politely and answers in kind, respecting the small distance she's creating.

 

At the meeting, she negotiates all terms they wanted, expertly extorting more of them than what they were willing to give. Usnavi is awe struck, again, at her cunning, but he supposes she didn't reach her position in the company by just looking beautiful.

 

"Lunch?" She offers, looking at her silver watch on their way out. "Mmh, it's a bit late for that…"

 

"I mean, I'm sure there's…"

 

"Room service?" She cuts him, giving him a meaningful look.

 

He gulps and nods eagerly. They've barely crossed the threshold of her room at the hotel that she's pounced on him, her mouth devouring his, hands sliding under his clothes to touch every bit of sensitive skin she can. She lets him drop onto her bed, rides his face, then his dick, and Usnavi finishes way too early, but instead of shoving him out of her room in shameful disgust, she only just asks him if he'd like to eat her out again. He does it two more times before they call room service, and she answers the door in the hotel bathrobes probably more curtly than the hotel groom deserved, getting back to him before they've even dug into the over-expensive catered meal.

 

"Don't we have to…" He starts. He's all spread out on the bed, Ms García kneeling between his legs, teasing him for longer than he thought he'd ever be able to handle. "Don't we have to go to another meeting this afternoon?"

 

She shakes her head and her thumb is playing with his slit, her hand cupping his balls, massaging just lightly enough that it's not quite _enough_.

 

"We just closed the deal," she says and pops his head into her mouth a little bit, tongue circling around it like mad before letting go again. "Weren't you paying attention?"

 

"No, I was…" He whimpers as her fingers brush against his ass and her lips tease kisses on him. "I just thought we had more, is all. What are we gonna do till we have to fly back?"

 

She takes him whole into her mouth and he throws his head back, groaning loudly. He's done nothing to deserve this. She pops him out after a few seconds buried at the deepest, her hand stroking him lightly.

 

"I think we'll manage to pass the time," she says before swallowing him again.

 

Usnavi has never lived this, never exhausted himself from so much sex. He didn't have too many girlfriends to begin with, and never a place to spend a few days just the two of them with no expectations, nothing to be done except pleasure the other one. They have sex until their bodies can't take it, and then they make love, and snack on the hotel's food they get delivered right into bed, and the next day, the same thing all over again. Usnavi hates having to take back the plane, hates going back to New York when he knows this couldn't possibly go on. Not with Nina's suspicious eyes everywhere. On the flight back, Ms García leaves her book in her bag, instead talking to him about the business deal they closed and what they are to report about it.

 

The first night home is the hardest. Even though they had sex several times in the morning and a couple in the afternoon, Usnavi's dick is rock hard when he gets himself into bed. He strokes himself so ardently it almost hurts, but it's all he can do when his brain is flooding him with the images of his boss he never thought he'd get to see. He's not sure he'll ever get to see her like that again. Of course, if he could just ask…

 

At work, he remembers that Nina was worried about him and mad at Ms García, and he hates himself for his fault in all this. He never should have offered that massage at work, but then, who knows how anything else would have gone after it? Guilt is taking over him all at once after having left him mostly alone for the duration of the trip. He's not even sure he can look Nina in the eyes.

 

But he does, he has to. Nina is his close friend, his oldest friend in the world. He hates to lie to her, of course, but then the shame he's sure she would feel if she knew what happened would be a thousand times worse. He can't say a thing, not when he's so happy at his job. So he charms his way back into Nina's good books and leaves Ms García out of the discussions entirely. In a way, he missed her too during their few days apart. It's just that he hates dealing with her suspicion now that there is cause for it.

 

It's not like anything more has happened anyways. A few days pass, a weekend, and Usnavi's brain goes wild with hypotheses on what could be going on, but with every day, the conclusion seems to draw itself more and more: it was a one-time thing. Ms García did mention she'd had her share of fun. Maybe she needed an itch scratched, maybe he was the only man available. It's not like she could have gone to their business partners. That would have been a way bigger deal than a three-day stand with an assistant. Usnavi's heart is sore, but not broken enough that he doesn't give the best of himself into his job. He has all the memories he needs right in his own mind.

 

Hiding his feelings is manageable in their office. Ms García does the same, if she has any feelings to hide from him. They work in silence most of the time and, though they're courteous with each other, they're also quite professional. He can handle it when it's just the two of them. It's much harder during meetings with others. He knows he must look like things are awkward, like there's distance between them. He's not sure if they'll ever be able to get the situation back to where it was before the trip, or before the massage. It's hard to pretend in front of her, harder still in front of others.

 

Which is why, when in the middle of a meeting he feels Ms García's hand on his lap, his heart pounds out of his chest. _It's nothing_ , he tells himself, _she's probably mistaken or trying to pick up something and she landed there by accident. Don't take this the wrong way._ Usnavi gives a fake smile to the rest of the room, trying not to get them noticed. She's _talking_. How can she be doing any of this while she's talking? The hand reaches up a little bit and for a second, he's terrified she's going to start that fire again right here, in a meeting with all the superiors of García  & García. His dick is much more tempted than he is, already stiffening to interest, but then… But then Ms García finds his hand on his lap and holds it close, entwining their fingers. His palm is sweaty against hers but she doesn't even seem to care. As far as he sees, she is utterly unchanged, simply holding his hand underneath the table. He asks himself if this is a new kind of secret they're hiding. He can't help but look at her in wonder. 

 

"Very good, very good…" Daniela says. "Everyone, you should be more like Vanessa. General remark on all of you. Dismissed."

 

Just like that, the meeting is over. Usnavi blinks as everyone stands up. Ms García lets go of his hand, stands up to gather her things. He offers to help but she takes a pen and jots down three words onto her notepad for him only to see.

 

_my office tonight?_

 

Their eyes meet and he hopes he's not interpreting anything wrong, but one thing is sure. If they're supposed to meet in her office, then he'll stay in her office as long as he can, for fear of missing anything. He dashes away.

 

It's a long rest of the day, Ms García away God knows where, probably with the other Ms García, talking over the meeting. Usnavi works, of course, revises her schedule, sorts the mail and the new folders people always leave on her desk, but in all earnesty, he has never been less focused. In the back of his mind, all he thinks about is the feel of Ms García's hand in his and elsewhere. The sensations are still fresh in his brain, ready to be recalled back to memory at any time. If he could leave the office and take a long bathroom break to calm himself down, he would, but then he would risk missing her.

 

The door to the office opens slowly, cautiously, quite a while later. When he checks the time, he sees that it's after work hours, but not much long after. There might still be people around, especially on their floor where people worked hard to climb where they are. He gulps thickly. Ms García gives him no glance, walks to her desk exhaustedly, drops a pile of files onto it. She throws her head back, desperate for some rest or relief, and talks without looking at him.

 

"What am I going to do with you?"

 

He sputters justifications, tries to stand and walk away to leave her alone, if she's going to doubt the whole thing again, but she meets his eyes and stops him in his tracks with one look. She gestures for him to come to her and blindly, Usnavi obeys.

 

"Do you think we're bad people, Usnavi?" She asks softly, reaching out to hold his hand.

 

He feels nerves filling him, the fear of being caught, though there's nothing compromising happening now. The fear of rejection coming much more finally than the gentle fading away of the past week grips him.

 

"No, you're a wonderful woman," he says sincerely and sinks to his knees before her. "I'm the…"

 

"You're a very good boy," she cuts him. "That's not the matter."

 

She plays with his fingers a bit, then reaches out to comb through his hair and he closes his eyes, breathing deeply. She cups his face firmly, turning it to look at her.

 

"How well can you keep a secret?"

 

He dares to touch her thighs, rubbing gently, slowly, and she smiles.

 

"Pretty well," he says, even though that hasn't been the case historically, but he knows that he'll do anything for her, anything at all, keep all their naughty secrets. "Really well."

 

She nods and just like that, Usnavi has become a naughty assistant again, a filthy employee who sleeps with his boss. He never meant to, he tells himself. It happened, it just happened and he's not going to deny himself this, much less her. Besides, there is a flavor to knowing that what they did is so strictly forbidden. He rides back to the Heights with the taste of his boss still on his tongue, his hair a mess from where she grabbed it, and there's an accomplishment to that that can never be matched by the rest of the work.

 

It feels great, actually, hiding this secret. Some nights, most nights, they stay late at work when the rest of the office is gone and under the pretense of extra hours, they give each other bliss. Usnavi feels happier than he's ever been in his life, as if he was in the honeymoon phase of a new relationship.

 

"Yo, cuz, stop with the whistling," Sonny tells him one morning as he stops by for a cup of coffee. "You're way too chipper."

 

Suddenly there's Benny's hand heavy on his shoulder from behind.

 

"You happy, little guy?"

 

"No I'm not!" Usnavi squeaks. "I'm totally normal. Nothing happy at all."

 

Hiding this is the only drawback, of course. He wishes he could tell everyone sometimes. But then, he's not sure if Ms García would be interested in him outside the excitement of the forbidden. He's not sure, but there's signs of it nonetheless. Signs he does his best to not read into.

 

"Whoa…" He can't can't help letting out when she invites him to her place for the first time.

 

She drops her things on the closest chair, kicking off her heels and loosening her tight braid. She grabs herself a glass of water and crashes onto the sofa, only noticing that he's staring at the immense sunlit apartment.

 

"Mmh?"

 

"This place is huge!" He says excitedly − he almost whispers, afraid to disturb a place this grand.

 

"Oh, that," she smiles uninterestedly. "Yeah."

 

"How do you not get lost?"

 

Her smile turns into a smirk and she leaves the glass untouched on the coffee table. She stands and, grabbing him by the hips from behind, pulls him close.

 

"I'll give you a tour, if you want."

 

"Well…"

 

Her lips are at his neck and he moans when she nibbles at him, wrapping her arms around him protectively.

 

"We can start with the bedroom," she whispers.

 

The sex is good, of course it's good if it's with her, but it's not just that. Everything also lies in the talking, how she so often ends up asking him questions about his youth, about his passions, how she complains about Daniela García all the time but secretly, he sees plain on her face how fond she is of their other boss. It lies in the rare times he cooks in her unused kitchen, and even rarer times he was allowed to sleep over and he got to see the miracles of Ms García getting dressed and ready, but then she told him to go ahead and get to work before her, and she'd arrive by the next train.

 

They know that what they're doing is wrong, by any measure they can't ignore it, and yet they do. Since that night in the office, when everything began again, they haven't mentioned their little secret. It just… happens. It happens over and over again and some nights, when he's on his knees between her legs under her desk, it feels completely like an office affair. Other nights, when they're cuddling on her couch and talking about the Dominican branch of García & García and he talks about his summers on Playa Rincón as a little child, it doesn't feel like that at all. Usnavi is on a little cloud those nights, and really wants to believe. Then the cloud turns to mist and he's forced to fall onto the ground.

 

Oh, it's not like she's harsh with him. She never was, not once. Even that particular Monday, after he spent his Friday night with her and stayed over all Saturday and left by early Sunday at her reluctant demand, she is nothing but gentle. Usnavi finds his tie neatly folded in the top drawer of his desk when he arrives that morning, which isn't the biggest surprise so much as Ms García already at her desk, deep into her work. She's never quite so early as to arrive before him, especially not on a Monday.

 

"Ms García?" He dares speak up.

 

"Yes, Usnavi?" She asks distractedly, not bothering to look at him.

 

He tries to read her face but cannot find any clue at all and God knows he has none on his own. He shoves the guilty tie into the briefcase Sonny got him when he first started working here and tries to push down the thoughts that she's been caught with it. _Why is his tie here? Is something the matter?_ His brain is churning at full fuel but, cowardly as he is, he doesn't find it in him to ask what's going on. He almost expects her to admit it on her own, but deep down, he knows that she never will. They don't talk about these things.

 

"Erm, nothing," he replies sadly and gets to work.

 

At lunch, she leaves to eat out on her own, which rarely happens anymore. They usually have lunch together at her desk, since that first night months ago. He cooked for two today, as he does almost every day. He guesses he'll just have to keep the second portion aside. Even in the afternoon, she comes back much later than she should and though he'd be lying if he accused her of ignoring him, it's still quite clear that she is making no effort to engage with him. Usnavi swallows his feelings and works.

 

"Usnavi?" She asks that night.

 

"Yes?" He says, too fast, too eager. He hates how he sounds.

 

"You can go home."

 

The ride back home has never seemed longer. In his own bed, Usnavi stares at the ceiling dumbly for hours, questioning everything he did this weekend that could have made her reconsider what they were living together. Is it because she finds him boring? Has she grown tired of him? Is he unattractive? Too attached, and she thought she ought to put more distance between them? Of course, there is always the possibility that they got caught, but then why is he still working at García & García?

 

Each day of that week is more painful than the last, it seems. Every lunch, she spends outside, and every night she sends him home as soon as his hours are over. Usnavi wishes he could talk to her, explain himself, apologize a million times for whatever harm he must have caused, but then he sees her sad face focused on her work, undisturbed and not wanting to be bothered, and he stays silent. He feels so alone and worse than that, he feels lonely. Even Nina seems to be avoiding him, he feels, and he wishes he could talk to her. Maybe she's going through a rough patch with Benny? He shakes his head at the thought. That's impossible, and Benny would have told him. If only anyone would talk to him…

 

The next morning, a Friday, the office is once again already taken, but not by Ms García. Or rather not by Vanessa O. García.

 

"Ms… Mrs García?"

 

Daniela García is sitting at his desk, feet on the table, casually reading through some folder that she puts down when she sees him.

 

"Oh, just the boy I wanted to see," she says and her mouth twitches into the most dangerous smile he's ever been given.

 

"Erm…"

 

"Come on in," she tells him, acting like this is more her office than his. "Take a seat."

 

Under her watchful eyes, he grabs a chair from Ms García's desk and drags it in front of his own.

 

"Have I… Have I done something wrong?"

 

_You know you have._

 

"Of course not," she says, her smile that of a shark before it catches an unlucky surfer nearby. "I just want to have a little chat with you."

 

"Oh. Erm…"

 

"Do you like the job, Usnavi?"

 

The pit at the bottom of his stomach grows heavier.

 

"Of course," he lies.

 

He used to, for sure, but this week, he's felt so out of place and unwanted that he might as well have stayed home.

 

"And what do you think about your boss?"

 

"About you?"

 

 _Fear. Caution. Mistrust_. He's not sure what Daniela García is coming at. She laughs.

 

"The _other_ García," she says. "Although, yes, she does have my beauty… I've often been told we look like sisters…"

 

 _Aren't they not related?_ But he has no time for foolish thoughts like that.

 

"She's… very dedicated, ma'am. And hardworking. And smart. I'm very… lucky. To have her. As my boss."

 

She stares at him for a few long seconds and he doesn't dare look away, scared she might jump on him and devour him alive if he does.

 

"Yes," she says, her thickly accented voice evoking memories of his mom before a _chanclaso_. "She is all those things."

 

She stands up to leave the office and Usnavi has no clue if he passed the test she set up for him or failed miserably. On her way out, she presses down on his shoulder and squeezes almost painfully.

 

"You have a nice weekend, Usnavi," she tells him. "I'm sure it will be… restful."

 

Restful is one way to put it. That night, Usnavi lies on his couch, in the middle of a Meg Ryan marathon, and he finds himself so pathetic it's all he can do not to break into sobs. His nights used to be filled with excitement and anticipation, but Usnavi doesn't find it in him to do much of anything since Ms García put distance between them once and for all. This week, all he's done for himself is get takeouts and eat sadly in front of romance movies on TV. He feels dumb, unattractive, and above all, alone. When the doorbell rings, he almost thinks he's made it up until it rings a second time. He opens it reluctantly.

 

"Ms García…"

 

He could have taken her for someone else, so different from how he's always seen his boss. Her hair is tied messily in a loose bun and she's wearing yoga pants, sneakers, and a green varsity jacket. Her make-up is a little bit smudged. Usnavi has never found her as beautiful. His stomach hurts and he realizes he's staring.

 

"Erm…" He lets her pass, squinting as she walks inside. He's not even sure if he's imagining this. Is she a vision? She might be."Ms García, what are you…"

 

"You can call me Vanessa."

 

She looks around and he wishes he'd cleaned up more but these past few days, he hasn't found it in him. He can't do much when he's sad. But then her eyes find his and don't let go and a bit of dust and a lot of mess don't matter so much anymore.

 

"Do you wanna… I mean, I'll get you a drink."

 

He gestures for her to sit at the couch and gets rid of the too many empty containers from the coffee table before bringing her a can of cherry soda pop, but still her eyes are on him only as she takes the can between her hands, leaving it unopened.

 

"We need to talk," she tells him softly.

 

He snorts awkwardly, humorlessly.

 

"You already did break up," he says. "We don't need to talk. I got that."

 

She nods and he thinks he sees sadness in her eyes again before she lowers them to her lap. It's a face he's seen a lot this week and wishes he could turn into a smile. If only he could. Maybe he's imagining it, but he thinks she turns slightly to the left, turns her back to him a little.

 

"What if…" She starts but loses her words. Opening the can, she takes a big sip before talking again. "What if I don't want us to break things off?"

 

He can't seem to register the words, not when her intentions have been nothing but clear all week. To his silence, she turns back to him and puts down the can on the table. She reaches over and looks about to grab his hand, but then falters and drops hers back onto her lap.

 

"What… What are you talking about?"

 

In her eyes, he's certain that there is fear. Never something he thought he would see.

 

"I've told you, I… I like you a lot. Really a lot."

 

This time, she does reach out to hold his hand and he's grateful for that, because his were starting to tremble.

 

"What would you say to that?"

 

"Ms García… erm, _Vanessa_ … I don't think I understand."

 

Her fingers are tapping a beatless melody on his palm and she bites her lip before going on.

 

"I don't want this," she gestures generally around them. "I mean, I want _this_ ," she squeezes his hand. "But I don't want any more secret, hiding this. I want you. In the open."

 

He sinks deep into the couch when he realizes what she means, the words and their possibility hitting him like a sharp gush of wind.

 

"You mean like… girlfriend and stuff?"

 

She nods, quite timidly.

 

"You want that?" He asks incredulously.

 

"More than anything in the world," she replies and for all she looks the shy part, her words are sure. "I've wanted that for a while now."

 

He stares dumbly. He hears her words and logically understands them, but some part of him finds it hard to imagine that such a perfect woman would want anything more to him than the temporary pleasures he could give her body.

 

"Don't you?" She asks softly, cupping his cheek to look in his eyes.

 

She looks so vulnerable then, so hopeful that he can't help but lean down and kiss her. She moans into it in surprise, her body pressing against his and he pulls her hips flush against him, dragging her to his lap. He forgets himself for a while, loses himself in the pleasure and above all relief of kissing her again. He remembers all at once.

 

"Wait, wait…" Firmly seated on his lap, she plays with the hair at his temple and Usnavi's heart burst that this could be what they do now. This could be who they are. Reluctantly, he asks, "Work?"

 

She looks away in shame.

 

"I don't want to force you to do anything," she insists. "I never have. It's up to you."

 

"I… have to quit," he realizes.

 

She nestles against his neck and gives a short nod.

 

"If we… if you wanna be with me."

 

"I want that," he says, pulling her hand to his mouth, pressing a dozen kisses on it. "I want that more than anything in the world."

 

"More than this job?" She asks hopefully.

 

He doesn't even need to think.

 

"Way more than this job."

 

Hours later, they're tucked against each other in Usnavi's too small bed. Vanessa is holding him tight and he feels her breasts squished against his back and one leg sliding between his. Her breathing is slow, as is his, and he asks himself when was the last time he felt this at ease. Still unable to find any sleep, Vanessa presses a myriad of kisses against his shoulder and the back on his neck.

 

"So what do we do now?" Usnavi asks.

 

"Now," Vanessa answers and finds his hand, entwining their fingers. "We're gonna be really happy."


	3. Vanessa

Vanessa's nerves have been so tense all week she's felt on the constant verge of snapping. Every person talking to her is taking a risk, she tells herself, and they better behave. The final culprit is her poor assistant. One cold cup of coffee too many, and without her usual three sugars, and she loses it.

 

"Jerry, get out."

 

The idiot stares at her dumbly, standing in the middle of the room like a deer caught in the headlight.

 

"O… out of where, Ms García?"

 

"I don't know," she sighs exasperatedly. "This office. The company. My life. Get out."

 

She knows that's probably overstepping her rights as an employer − she'll have to trust Nina to mend the broken pieces and deal with the legal crap. If she's going to be a bitch, then that's what she'll be and without excuses. Besides, that dumbass was only mildly competent at best. It was long time for a change.

 

Vanessa deserves the best of the best, Daniela always tells her. She deserves someone who knows half of what they're doing in her office. She deserves a quiet day at work followed by an exciting night with interesting people. She deserves… She deserves all that, and she does not deserve to be dumped through a text by some girl she wasn't even all that into. She doesn't deserve a shit week with Mona not bothering to come pick up her stuff, asking Vanessa not to text her anymore if she's going to be bitter, a week of staring at the ceiling of her bedroom wondering why no one cares for her.

 

Daniela takes the news that Vanessa fired her assistant quite well, with a knowing smirk and a nod. Nina is significantly less sympathetic, huffing and puffing, pacing in Vanessa's office as soon as she's gathered them both here, but Vanessa lets her run her course before asking her if she thinks she can find her a better one.

 

"Of course I can," Nina replies curtly and takes her leave.

 

"She'll get you a really good one," Daniela assures her once Nina is out of the room.

 

She's leaning out the window, lighting up a cigarette. Vanessa is quite sure they're not allowed to smoke in the building, but who will tell the CEO about the rules? Certainly not her. She offers one to Vanessa, who waves it away, annoyed.

 

"It could calm you down," Daniela insists.

 

"No, it can calm  _you_  down," Vanessa says. "Cigarettes make me angry. And who said I wasn't calm?"

 

"Mija, you're as tense as a thong."

 

Vanessa grunts and starts to clear up Jerry's desk a little bit. She's barely moved a few folders, tried to sort them, that she stops herself. This isn't her job.

 

"Can you believe Mona said I was withholding?"

 

Daniela takes a deep drag and slowly lets the smoke out in the misty air so far up the García tower. Without looking at Vanessa, she answers.

 

"Have you tried finding someone else?"

 

Vanessa rolls her eyes, even if Daniela can't see her. There's always rumors that she can see from the back of her head anyways.

 

"I don't wanna date anyone right now, I'm just gon…"

 

"I'm not talking about dating," Daniela interrupts, her voice dropping low, suggestive.

 

Vanessa hates when she does that, when she thinks she knows better than Vanessa herself about her own life. But then, if Vanessa's frustration is going to lead her to reckless firing random employees…

 

"I don't need that right now," Vanessa says. "I just need to work. And even if I did, I wouldn't tell you."

 

"Alright, keep your private affairs to yourself," Daniela raises her hands, shrugging. "But don't fire too many more assistants. It looks… messy."

 

When Vanessa comes to work a few days later to find some guy sitting in her office, looking at her like she's the moonlight, she briefly wonders if Daniela sent him to cheer her up. It wouldn't be a first. She looks him up and down, big dark eyes widened in shame after he dropped his coffee in surprise, suit way too big and sagging on his shoulders, but cute face and even cuter when he smiles. If Daniela sent him, then she knows Vanessa all too well. But then, why would she send some dude for Vanessa to relax with in her office on a Monday morning…

 

"Who the hell is this guy?" Vanessa asks Nina, walking into her office.

 

Nina always does this thing where she prefers to finish her work before answering questions and she makes her wait for a whole minute before deigning to look up.

 

"Mmh?" She frowns.

 

"Dude in my office," Vanessa says and feels dumb just describing the situation. She likes to know and hates to ask. "Dorky hair, smiles weird."

 

She has ten more things to say about the guy, maybe more, but keeps them to herself. Nina smiles.

 

"Oh yeah, he's the assistant I told you about? My friend I hired for you?"

 

Her eyes are gleaming with pride and Vanessa suddenly remembers getting an email about something like that. She might have paid more attention to it if she'd known what this friend looked like.  _Push that down_ , she thinks.  _He's your assistant_.  _You gotta be careful about this kind of shit, stupid_.

 

"Your friend, huh?" Vanessa asks casually, grabbing something from Nina's desk to keep her hands busy.

 

"Usnavi De la Vega," Nina says.

 

 _Usnavi De la Vega_. She repeats the name, only noticing too late she's said the words. She's never heard this name. It's beautiful. It's quirky. It fits him. She realizes that Nina said something that she hasn't even heard and thinks she sees suspicion on her face. Or could it be jealousy? But Nina is happily married…

 

"Did you ever… I mean, you know?" She feels dumb just asking the question, even more when Nina scrunches up in disgust.

 

"Ew. No."

 

Vanessa nods.  _What are you happy about, dumbass? He's your assistant_.

 

"Your friend Usnavi is my new assistant," she says, trying to burn that into her brain so she does nothing stupid.

 

"Uh huh."

 

Suddenly Nina's eyes are too heavy on her, her stare too obvious.

 

"Well," she says, trying to save herself. "He spilled coffee all over his shirt when I walked in."

 

Nina laughs and Vanessa is relieved to be out of her radar, but also she can't help to defend him even a little bit. She's sure the coffee was an embarrassing accident for him so much more than for her.

 

"It was cute."

 

But that is saying too much. She wipes the smile off her face and puts down whatever she took from Nina's desk. Before she incriminates herself even further, she gets out of this office briskly to get back at her cute-faced assistant who is no less adorable than he was ten minutes ago. She introduces herself and explains the job to him, trying to be as professional as she can.

 

Vanessa is not an idiot. Well, she is, but at least she knows when she's being one and she has caught the situation going on right now.  _You're vulnerable_ , she tells herself.  _You're sad from the break up, you're angry. This isn't a real crush, it's loneliness_. But all day, she can't help to think about Usnavi's smile, not helped in the least by him fidgeting in his corner of the office every time she looks over. He  _is_  her type, she supposes, if she even has one, but mostly he's some cute guy who looks at her like she's the moon when she's feeling unwanted and alone. She's not careless enough that she'll believe her heart's stirrings in a moment like this.

 

But oh, does she want to. She avoids looking at him all day, of course.  _Trust Nina. Make him a great assistant. Don't fuck this up_.

 

"Oh, Usnavi?" She asks him at the end of his first day at work.

 

"Yes, ma'am?" He says and she loves his voice, how it always seems to go fast and faster and the words bump into each other but he always gets back on his track.

 

"Could you stay a bit later tomorrow?" She asks.

 

She can't look at him, of course, can't risk it. But she does anyways. She has to take control over those dumb feelings inside her one way or another. Better sooner than later.

 

"For  _work_ ," she clarifies when Usnavi doesn't answer. "I think we ought to give you proper training."

 

"Oh, er, yes, of course Ms García," he replies, ever polite.

 

They spend the night together the next day, though with much less work than Vanessa would have liked for her own countenance.  _It's not just her,_  she realizes dangerously. Because there is little professional in the way they dive into conversation as soon as they're on their own after work hours, exchanging their dinner packs, the way she confides just as easily as he does. Oh, Vanessa has friends, mostly Nina, but this is completely different. There's something in his eyes, the way he talks to her almost bashfully, the way his gaze flutters when she smiles at him. Either that or she's completely mad with this stupid crush and she invents everything she wants to see.

 

"So, García & García is a company finding local Latino businesses and helping them get spread out across America…" He ponders when she actually starts his training for earnest the next day.

 

She cocks her brow.

 

"You're only learning this now?"

 

"Well, erm…"

 

She would pat his shoulder or his cheek but refrains herself at the last moment.

 

"I imagine there's a lot I'm going to teach you."

 

It can't go on like this, she knows, and yet every day, she learns a little new tidbit about him that makes her grow fonder. He's kind in a way no assistant before has ever been, even Carla back when García & García was a tiny little project between a dozen of Latinas and there was only one assistant in the company. Usnavi makes her feel taken care of, which Vanessa never even knew she wanted in the first place. She always prided herself in her independence, especially from men, and yet here she is, cute dork smiling at her one too many times and she's lost it. It can't go on. She has to get a grip.

 

One of the many benefits of being at the top of a big company is that Vanessa has access to the  _crème de la crème_  of the lounges of New York City − or any other city, for that matter − but on days like these, she's much happier just losing herself in the usual clubs she used to frequent before all this rich business came along and changed her life. There's simplicity in it, dancing all night long in one of her cheap red dresses and having someone pay for her cocktails. She gets three phone numbers that she deletes as soon as she's out of the club that night, because she leaves hand in hand with the cutest chubby girl who was too shy to ask her on the dance floor. She's not shy in Vanessa's bed, for sure, seven orgasms between the two of them, though she's left the apartment by the time Vanessa emerges. There's a post-it with a phone number on the pillow next to hers and a name but as Vanessa picks it up, she only has to look at it for a few seconds before bunching it up and throwing it away, frustrated.

 

"What the fuck is wrong with you…"

 

Seeing Usnavi the next work day is even harder. Of course, she shows nothing of it. For the first time, she feels driven to be polite with him, kind in a way she's never tempted to be with most people. Usnavi brings that out in her, she thinks.

 

The shame is that he brings out many, many uglier things that she can never let out of her own mind. Because how could she tell anyone that during a one-night stand with a perfectly lovable partner, she was thinking of Usnavi's hands and lips and eyes and smile? How could she tell anyone that there's butterflies in her stomach every time she enters her office and sees how bright he's beaming at her? How could she tell anyone that for the first time in a very, very long time, she's feeling more tender than fiery and that it scares her? 

 

"Vanessa," Carla drives her out of her thoughts, a gentle hand on her shoulder. "Are you alright?"

 

She's zoned out at a meeting between the higher ranks of García & García, the original ones who founded it, and thank God for Usnavi being absent from this. She blinks a few times. The room is clearing out around her, Daniela giving her a lasting glance on her way out that Vanessa refuses to catch.

 

"Yeah," she breathes out. "Yeah, thanks, I'm fine."

 

"Do you want coffee?" Carla asks as Vanessa stands up and tries to regain her countenance. Caught like an idiot thinking about her dumb assistant. She hates this. "I made some before the meeting, but I can make some more. Con espumita?"

 

Vanessa thinks for two seconds before giving in to Carla's sincere smile and nodding, following her to the private break room that is technically also Daniela's parlor, but which she relegated to Carla a long time ago to make a nice little haven of peace on the top floor of the building. There's a sofa so soft and deep that you get buried into it the moment your butt touches it and you never want to get up. Vanessa drops right onto it while Carla fusses with the little stovetop coffee machine, the gestures old and rehearsed a thousand thousands of times. She gives Vanessa ample time to relax and for that, Vanessa is grateful. There is something soothing about the smell of coffee filling the air, the sound of beaten sugar, the gurgling of the pot.

 

"You were preoccupied," Carla says gently as she pours the cups, her back turned to Vanessa from her little kitchen corner. "During the meeting. I could tell. I didn't want to say anything, but you know…"

 

"It's nothing. Nothing's happening. I dunno. Don't ask."

 

"I wasn't gonna ask," Carla says, handing Vanessa a small cup.

 

They all have their part of the matching set that Carla had made special. This one says 'Vanessa's cafecito', some cute idea from years ago. They sit together in the comfortable couch, Vanessa's mind cleared by the rich taste of Carla's coffee. She gulps down the rest of the cup, the buzz of it exactly what she needed.

 

"Have you ever…" She stops herself. She can't be stupid enough to actually ask Carla for advice, to open herself up this much… Except that she is, damn her. Carla smiles and pats her knees and Vanessa is weak. "Have you ever wanted… something… so much? But you can't have it?"

 

Carla's pretty eyebrows knit in confusion which she hides behind a giggle.

 

"Usually, Dani gets it for me. Van, you don't have your eyes on something so precious you can't afford it, right?"

 

 _Precious is right,_  Vanessa thinks with sadness. She shakes her head. She could use another cup of coffee. And a dozen more one-night-stands till the plan to forget about her stupid crush eventually works.

 

"No," she sighs. "No, I… It's not about the price."

 

It  _is_  about the price, she reflects.  _The price of my job, my achievements, my life so far_. Carla leans against her gently, an almost-cuddle, but then springs up to grab something.

 

"Look," she says. "I saw this bag last month in a shop window, and I mentioned it to Dani, but I didn't want to splurge any money on it. But she got it for me for a surprise."

 

Vanessa stares at the purse Carla is holding up. What the hell does she mean by this?

 

Whatever Carla was trying to convey, Vanessa gets her own meaning out of it the next day when she sees Usnavi enter the room in his usual old suit. She knows he used to work in a small family-owned store and doesn't really hold it against him to not be used to proper formal wear, but then… If Daniela can spoil Carla rotten, so can she Usnavi. She grabs his arm.

 

"Usnavi?"

 

Those eyes, those large frightened eyes will always get her.

 

"We're gonna buy you some new clothes."

 

There's something entirely inappropriate about this whole situation that she indulges in. Is it normal for a boss to dress her employee? At least Daniela said nothing about the receipts, but from that day on, Vanessa feels in her heart that the restraint she was exerting has snapped and is replaced by shame and guilt at the thought that she's taking the first steps to perdition.

 

It's not just that Usnavi looks so much more handsome in his new expensive suits, although it's part of it. It's the long evenings of work that Usnavi spends pretending he's not staring at her when he thinks she doesn't notice. It's the smiles in the morning and throughout the day and the self-deprecating compliments he pays her, always thinking himself inferior, for what reason exactly? It's the way she lets her fingers linger just a little bit when she hands him files for that pink blush across his cheeks. It's the coffee cups with exactly three sugars even though she asks for two, because he knows she's lying and gives her exactly what she wants, no matter what she says. Every day is a bit closer to Vanessa's demise and she walks happily towards it.

 

"Can I ask you something?" Nina's husband asks one day when she comes to pick her up for their weekly hangout at Vanessa's place.

 

Vanessa looks up from her phone. As a tacit rule, Benny is not exactly her friend, though she holds no grudge against him. Nina is a lifelong best friend who just so happens to be married to him and the occasional awkward conversation is just about the length of their relationship. She would sit in her car if she could, but Nina promised she would be just a minute, feeding her kid in her room, but it's been at least three minutes and Vanessa is ready to go as soon as Nina comes out.

 

"Mmh?"

 

Benny is a tall guy, broad-shouldered, coily hair cropped short, and she understands why Nina would be into that, even more when he smiles, which is quite often. He's not smiling now.

 

"About Usnavi…" He says and leaves the question up in the air, unspoken.

 

Vanessa feels her blood turn to chill but she keeps her face straight. Of  _course_ , Nina would be on her guard and snitch about her to her damn husband… And without telling her. She tries to keep the ice out of her voice when she replies.

 

"What about him?"

 

Benny takes a big breath but whatever idiocy he was about to say is cut by Nina apologizing a dozen times for the emergency feeding and after a kiss and a hug to her dear husband, they're ready to go. Vanessa tries not to let it go to her, to enjoy their day, but Benny's question never leaves her mind.

 

What about Usnavi? Oh, how he could not have asked a better, or a worse question… Because  _everything_  about Usnavi, every single detail, every word that comes out of his mouth. His eyes, his big black innocent eyes, and his hair that he's learned to style now, and his arms and his body that she never missed that day at the fashion house, and his smiles… This whole damn situation, this entire Usnavi mess is getting so stressful on her shoulders.

 

"Urgh," she grunts, stretching her arms above her head, trying to catch Usnavi's attention. There's a slight shaking to his hands and she knows she has him. How pathetic, she thinks, that she lives for his attention these days. "My neck hurts."

 

"I could get you a massage," he says.

 

Oh,  _could_  he now? He mumbles something, dumbfounded, but the idea has been thrown out whether he wants it or not. Vanessa feels her heart pounding, though there is no surprise in her heart. No, it doesn't feel like a sudden change of direction, but rather the disaster that she has been steering towards this whole time. She hates herself for the next words that come out of her mouth.

 

"Well, come on, then. Don't offer if you're not gonna do it."

 

He looks like a prey scared that a trap will fall onto him and catch him dead any moment, every step he walks towards her. She wants him, she wants everything about him, but if she can only decently have his hands on her shoulders and neck, then she'll accept that and crave for more. She pushes her hair out of the way for him, thinking of other ways she might reveal herself to him, hating herself for it.

 

His hands touch her neck and she melts from all the pent-up desire, still not completely filled, but better than nothing. He's quite good at this.  _This is normal_ , she persuades herself.  _He's your assistant and you're tired and sore. He's just doing his job._

 

"Oh, Usnavi, that feels great," she tells him and even she doesn't miss the unfortunate implications in her voice, how much she wishes to say those words in another setting.

 

"I'm glad," he replies softly.

 

It's a beautiful little forbidden cocoon they find themselves in, the world outside of this office completely out of their range. There's nothing in her mind beyond the warmth of Usnavi's hands and how completely safe she feels under his touch, and cared for and comfortable. Of course, something must go wrong. Something always does. This must be a dream, and of late her dreams turn to nightmares, the torture of craving something so ardently. Her eyes closed, she basks in Usnavi's heavenly touch and the second she opens them, she finds Nina staring at her, mouth gaping in horror, and everything shatters down. In this instant, she hates Nina, but so much more she hates herself for being this careless.

 

"Usnavi, leave us, please," Nina says coldly.

 

Usnavi fidgets, distancing himself from Vanessa and how she wishes they'd fight Nina together, be allowed at least that.

 

"It's not what it looks like! I only just…"

 

Of course, sweet charming Usnavi would never  _dare_  to be this kind of employee, would he? Vanessa knows better than to believe him. Those are only the words of a desperate man caught doing something bad. Something really bad that she brought onto them. Shame weighs heavy in her stomach. 

 

" _Usnavi_ ," Nina insists and curse him, he's afraid of her and runs away, abandoning Vanessa to handle the mess of the aftermath.

 

Not that Nina was paying much attention to him anyways. Since she entered the room, her eyes have only been fixated on Vanessa and she barely pays him any mind on his way out. So be it. Vanessa will not be cowed into anything.

 

"So?" Nina asks and Vanessa hates to be trapped like this. All her life, she's always striven to be on top of any given situation she finds herself in and today, she has failed in a major way.

 

"So what?" She frowns, trying desperately to play the innocent card. "You were asking me if I have something?"

 

Nina sees right through her, of course. Of course she's too smart for this.

 

"Don't play dumb with me, Vanessa," she says curtly. "You know what I'm talking about. Why was your assistant rubbing your neck so… sensually…?"

 

Vanessa waves her hand dismissively.

 

"It wasn't  _sensual_ ," she says, trying to play smart if she can't play dumb. "I was tired, he asked if he could help me, he gave me a quick massage, I don't see why you're getting weird about it…"

 

Nina huffs sarcastically.

 

"Oh my god, for freak's sake, you…" Proper little Nina would never talk about less than proper situations explicitly, of course. Of course she wouldn't know of these things. "You  _moaned_."

 

 _Did I? I must have_. Nina stares, expects an answer that Vanessa is too ashamed to give, too stubborn maybe. Both at once torturing her.

 

"Look, I know there's something between you. I've had my doubts ever since you noticed Usnavi with…  _interest_ , on his first day here."

 

Something snaps inside Vanessa. The fucking…  _traitor_ , watching Vanessa's every move to even notice such a thing.

 

"And I want to remind you that you're putting your assistant and  _my friend_  in a vulnerable position."

 

Vanessa hates her for this, hates herself, hates the whole world except Usnavi, tender little Usnavi who doesn't deserve to be at the center of this debate and yet… She hates that he has to be Nina's friend, that of course, Nina would worry and not see that what they have is… that they're just…

 

"Vulnerable?" She cries out. "I'm not forcing him to do nothing! Fucking shit, Nina, he was only rubbing my shoulders!"

 

_For how much I want him to be doing so, so much more…_

 

" _That I know of,_ " Nina points out. "You know you never just do  _massages_ , Van."

 

Nina lets out the words and, too late, realizes their implications.

 

"I'm sorry, I didn't mean to…"

 

Vanessa shouldn't be feeling this angry. She really shouldn't, not when everything that's transpired so far is strictly her fault, but it doesn't mean she'll stand before Nina's judgment on everything she has done before Usnavi even came into the picture. She won't just sit here and be shamed by Nina, won't let herself be reduced to what she chooses to do, who she chooses to have between her legs. That's none of Nina's business.

 

"I'm sorry too," she says, trying to control her voice and failing miserably. "For disappointing you. I didn't know you always thought I was such a slut."

 

"Van, I never…"

 

She doesn't  _know_ , she tells herself furiously. Nina has  _no idea_  that this isn't about wanting Usnavi in her bed, although it also is. It's about his smiles and his hair and his eyes and about the warmth in her heart that she never knew could be rekindled again. It's not about jumping his dick. If it was… She doesn't know what she would have done if it had only been that all too familiar itch. What makes this hard is that it isn't just that. Why can't Nina understand even the basic shape of it?

 

"I guess you think I'm just too fucking horny all the time," she spits out, letting Nina see more of her sore heart than she has any right to. "And I can't control myself so I'm gonna suck the dick of any random dude that crosses my path even if my job is at stake."

 

"That's not what I meant!"

 

Of course, Nina's regret is plain on her face and Vanessa tells herself that if she looks at her for too long, she might forgive her. She stands up to glance out the window, hugging herself. She'll have to forgive her at some point, she knows. So many years of friendship, since they were in diapers. It doesn't break away like that. But she doesn't  _want_  to.

 

"Tell me what you meant, then."

 

There's silence and she's sure Nina must be in one of her anxious moods again. She's half tempted to go soothe her but fights the urge. She's quite used to fighting her urges.

 

"I'm saying I don't want Usnavi to be hurt."

 

Vanessa wants to shout, to break something, to cry. As if  _she_  wanted that for Usnavi.

 

"You're right," Nina goes on, "I don't know if there's anything going on but I'm friends with both of you and I'm suspecting there is." Vanessa wonders if Usnavi has said anything, done anything suspicious. His smiles… She wonders if she's the only recipient of those smiles. "And he's my friend, but more importantly he's your subordinate and there are actual risks to engaging in this."

 

 _I know_ , Vanessa thinks.  _I_  know  _that_.

 

"Not just the legal risks, although that too…" Nina goes onto her Nina nerd rants, because of course she would in a moment like this. "What happens in case of a break up, what happens in there's a scandal about it, if anyone finds out, what happens if  _Daniela_  finds out, what happens when your interests at work are in conflict with his…"

 

There is nothing Nina says that Vanessa hasn't already thought a thousand times, of course, and she hates to have all the flaws in this nothing of a plan to be laid out before her. Nina rings the coup de grâce.

 

"And aren't you dating that girl anyways? Mona?"

 

Vanessa hates herself for this. Of course she's not dating that girl anyways. If she still was, this whole mess would have never happened. If she'd told Nina about it, they could have talked it through and who even knows if she would have fired Jerry, if she would have ever gotten to know Usnavi… She doesn't know which reality she prefers.

 

"We broke up two months ago," she replies, and wishes she wasn't so damn mad that Nina doesn't know this when it really is all Vanessa's fault for keeping that info from her.

 

She hears Nina fidgeting behind her and her voice tries to sound firmer when she speaks again.

 

"Look, I just don't want Usnavi's heart to be broken." Vanessa lets out a whimper despite herself. As if she wanted to break Usnavi's heart. She has a million things she'd rather do to his heart, to him. "He's sensitive and I don't know that he could simply recover from being left behind."

 

Of all the accusations, this one is another painful one. Vanessa turns around, snapping.

 

"And what makes you…"

 

But how worth it is it to explain it to Nina? How much exposed can she endure her heart to be, with no guarantee that Nina would even understand? Nothing today points that way.

 

"No, you know what," she says coolly. "You were heard. Dismissed."

 

She can't seem to focus on anything, though she pretends to until Nina leaves. She hates this. She hates every bit of this situation. For hours, she's left all alone in the confines of her own mind.  _Nina doesn't get it. She never will_. She doesn't know that this is not about who Vanessa wants to bang. It's about  _love_ , she realizes. She hates the word for frightening her so. It would be so much easier if this was about sex.

 

"I… Erm…" Usnavi fuddles when he dares pop back into their office. "I'm back."

 

"You are," she replies, trying not to sound so relieved.

 

They stare at each other for heavy long seconds before he shuffles to his desk to keep himself busy at his work. In her belly, butterflies are fluttering at the thought that he came back, that he's back in this room and the intimacy they had can go on, no matter what Nina says. Vanessa has made her decision.

 

"Dani?" She asks when Daniela makes her evening tour around the floor to say goodbye long after Usnavi has gone.

 

"Mmh?" Daniela replies, thumb playing at her phone, a smile at her lips.

 

"Send me to the Washington deal."

 

Daniela, still busy with her phone, snorts and looks up at Vanessa.

 

"You were saying?"

 

Vanessa pushes the irritation down inside her, as she often must with Daniela.

 

"Send me to the Washington deal."

 

Daniela cocks an eyebrow.

 

"Juan Pedro is going to the Washington deal."

 

"I know," Vanessa sighs exasperatedly. "That's why I'm asking you to change it to me and my assistant."

 

Daniela stares at her for too many inquisitive seconds, then goes back to typing on her phone and nods.

 

"Bueno, if you want."

 

Vanessa bites back the sigh of relief. On her way out, Daniela raps at the door frame to catch her attention.

 

"Have fun now," she says with a smile that hides everything and Vanessa lets her leave before she can think of any reply.

 

She spends all night torturing herself over the wording of the email to tell Usnavi about their business trip. Lying on her bed, tucked under blankets with the cat on her comforter that she scratches between the ears, a cup of tea balanced on her knees, she can't seem to find the words. It's almost too late to be sending the email by the time she gives up and sends it no matter how idiotic it must sound.

 

This will be what they need, she's decided. Of course, she doesn't know for sure that Usnavi reciprocates any of what she feels. Oh, the sexual part, for sure, or he's a very good pretender at desire he's not feeling. The messy love stuff, she can't be sure, she can never be sure. But the plan is to start with the smutty parts and get to know more about that in due time. She feels deep shame at the pit of her stomach but she only has to dream of Usnavi hands in hers and his face at her neck and his arms around her and she knows that there is no way but this way. On a whim, she sends him another email to request he wears the suits she bought him (and though it was only a few short weeks ago, how can it feel like such eternity?). Too late, she realizes she sent them with her private address and tries to correct her failed aim. Oh well. It was just a matter of time.

 

She wears her best dress the next day, all for that wow effect. The black one that's a little bit too tight but make her breasts look bigger than they really are. Perfect for this occasion, for who she wants to be today. A woman with a plan, and first comes the plan of still getting the work done while she's on a secret love mission too. There'll be time for that later today. There definitely will, she convinces herself when she sees Usnavi's eyes for the first time that day.

 

The day passes like any other business day, like Vanessa isn't in the eye of the hurricane, of the worst mistake in her life, or the best one. The meetings go as they do, too much talk for nothing, but a necessary evil before the real deal. Vanessa kicks off her heels as soon as she enters the hotel room, pulls off the dress, unties her hair. The outfit has filled its purpose today, she's sure. The bathtub is exactly what she needs, the hot water washing away the doubts and filling her with calm determination for what is to come. These hotels always have the best soaps and she scrubs herself with lavender and honey and everything nice, the scent overwhelming her.  _This_ , she tells herself,  _is the biggest bargain you'll ever take in your life_.

 

She considers dressing herself before meeting him, some cute nightdress. She brought the purple silk one. But then, this isn't really in line with the spirit of the plan. This isn't really her, the open honest self she wants to offer him. She dries her hair and puts on some perfume and, with only the hotel bathrobes and slippers on, a bottle of champagne in her hand, a condom packed in her pocket, risks everything she has.

 

"So, I got you a present…" She opens with and from the first look of him, she knows she has him, and he has her before even knowing it.

 

The plan works, thank God it works, and as she has Usnavi in her arms, in her, she realizes this wasn't a plan. It was life, it was love happening to them. They were meant to find each other here in this room, to bring their love to fruition, to make love after such a long time waiting. To hell with the rest of them.

 

Usnavi is an excellent lover, the best she's ever had if only because of the love she feels, electric in the air around them. It's not about anything concrete, of course, though she tells herself that his dick is the exact right size for her and she likes it in her hands, in her mouth, between her legs, and his mouth that is so flustered at talking is perfect to give her so much more pleasure than she deserves on a forbidden night such as this one, and for her to kiss. They have the best sex of her life that night in all its awkward glory and Vanessa has never felt more whole.

 

"I loved this," she tells him after they're done, snuggling against him, and who has she become that she cuddles now?

 

Against her ear, she hears Usnavi's heartbeat racing and she loves to think that he is as overwhelmed as she is with their new endeavors, but then his hands fidget against her back and she's taken with the fear that he is regretting already. Hiding away that anxiety, she kisses his shoulder and leans up to have a look at his big bewildered eyes.

 

"What's up, Usnavi?"

 

There's that voice that betrays her, more tenderness in it than she's used to, but for once, for him, she's ready to have it that way.

 

"Nothin'," he says. "I was trying to find something smart and nice to say…"

 

Oh, but doesn't he know that he doesn't need to say anything? She kisses him just because she can now, because they're doing this for as long as he'll have her.

 

"And what did you come up with?"

 

He looks away and, awkwardly, recites his findings.

 

"Erm… The only room with a view is a room with you in it?"

 

She laughs at how adorable he can be, how sweet in times like these. She lies back down against him and sighs with contentment as his finger traces idle patterns against her naked back.

 

"Not bad," she tells him. "You should be a writer."

 

"I'm an assistant," he replies, but they both ignore it.

 

There's a lot to ignore tonight. She ignores everything that goes beyond this room, even beyond this bed and Usnavi's embrace. She ignores that they're going to have to go back to work at some point in a couple days, that they're going to have to face Nina for sure, that they won't be able to show in the open how much they've bonded. She ignores the feeling in her gut that this could all go terribly wrong, because if it goes wrong, it won't be because of them, it won't be that they've done anything reprehensible. Because what wrong could there be in liking someone a whole lot and keeping them close?

 

The rest of the trip passes by at a dramatically fast pace to her liking. Vanessa is quite used to sex, definitely not a stranger to a lot of it in a short amount of time. It's only efficient. Still, she's sure they must have broken some kind of record. After the meeting of the next day, they go back straight to the hotel and tumble into bed again and all the pleasure is almost too much to share between the two of them. Her muscles are sore from from all that hidden exercise here on this bed. Not that they limit themselves to the bed. The affection for him is awakening creativity in her.

 

"Have you ever done it in a bathtub?" She asks as they're lying in hot water on opposite sides of the immense bathtub, sipping from the same glass of champagne in turn.

 

Her toes are riding up his thigh, inching ever closer to his dick. He throws his head back as her sole rubs against him, hard dick shoved against his tight stomach, and whimpers.

 

"No," he lets out. "No, I've never…"

 

She takes another sip of champagne, putting down the glass before sitting up and how lovely is that, his eyes widening at the sight of her emerging from the thick layer of lavender scented bubbles.

 

"I imagine there's a lot of firsts I need to give you," she purrs and he groans into the kiss she gives him as her hands catch up with what her feet have been up to, a tight and hot vice around him under the soapy water.

 

The bath has gone lukewarm, then cold by the time they empty the tub, but their energy is vibrating between them and Vanessa's skin is burning hot. She knows she's rushing to have her fill, too fast, chasing the feeling while she can because there is no promise for tomorrow, but she refuses to let herself think of anything beyond this trip. Nothing seems to matter so much as the way her body folds itself around Usnavi and the way his eyes go dark when his dick is inside her (and she knew those kegels would come in handy one day or another), how tenderly he holds her when he's on top, how he marvels at the sight of her when she is. She loses count of how many times they find each other again and again, more than she thought was possible for her in one day, nevermind for any guy. A few times, sure, he doesn't come, other times she doesn't, some time to catch up and breathe, but they're beyond the simple pleasure of a good climax, everything lying in the here and now.

 

"Oh, Usnavi," she moans too loud when he captures her one more time, three fingers inside her, trying to fit a fourth but the orgasm caught her before he could. They told each other they would just watch TV for the rest of the night to relax, but watching TV turned into cuddling turned into their hands grabbing for each other turned into Usnavi dropping to his knees. He stands back up to join her on the deep expensive couch again.

 

"Was it good?" He asks self-consciously, taking the embrace she offers. "I can…"

 

"You can give me a massage is what you can do," she says with a teasing smile. "I'm sore."

 

"Yes! Yes, of course."

 

Of course the massage is excellent, even if poor Usnavi's hands are shaking and he's exhausted himself, but then of course it turns into more and the slide of him inside her from behind, his whole body hugging hers as his mouth presses kisses on the back of her neck, her shoulders, her back, is insufferably good. Her doubts couldn't be more far away and she tells herself she's never felt more relaxed in her life. Her body finally gives out after that last time and nestled in his arms is the only way she ever wants to go to sleep in her life.

 

She  _could_  live like this forever. She could decide to stay here and beg Usnavi to live the rest of their lives in this room and their bodies would be chaffed very fast but wouldn't it be all worth it? But the next day comes and at the end of it, there's their plane back to New York and she doesn't dare suggest how to keep this spell going. She hates herself for not thinking of this part of it first, the life that goes on even after they've found each other. Already, they have to play the part of a boss and an assistant, they have work to do, no matter how little she wants it.

 

Her home has never felt more lonely and gray than the first night back. Her bed is too big for just one person, and all this luxury she's spent her life so far trying to amount, working hard, is nothing to her when Usnavi is not here with her. She doesn't cry, of course, but the tears are right at the brim of her eyes when she thinks of how ridiculous this situation is, how impossible to find a way out of. She made a decision during the trip, the decision to entwine her life with Usnavi in a way that can't be forgotten. The decision was short-sighted and she makes another one, perhaps a cruel one, to keep to herself until she's decided what to do next.

 

That is, of course, without counting Daniela's insufferable thirst for any and all info she's not entitled to.

 

"How was Washington?" She asks on Vanessa's first day back at the García tower after summoning her to her vast and impeccably decorated office.

 

"A success," Vanessa says and has no idea if she's lying or not. "We closed the deal with full benefits on our part. They said th…"

 

Daniela raises a hand to shut her up and Vanessa frowns.  _She always does this_.

 

"You'll send me a full report on that," she demands. "Or have your assistant type it. Mija, what have you done to Nina?"

 

 _Shit_. Despite this whole trip being inspired by her fury at Nina's judgment, Vanessa had cleared her out of her mind.

 

"Nothin'."

 

"Oh, I'm glad," Daniela says thickly. "Then it's  _nothing_  that Nina had to come beg at my door and ask why you weren't at work because you didn't bother to tell her you were leaving on a whim to a project assigned to someone else. Vanessa, don't lie to me."

 

Vanessa stays silent, looking at her hands, wonders how much Daniela knows. Of all the things she imagined, she did not think this whole affair would come crashing down as soon as the next day. Her heart is pounding and impossibly loud at her temples but she keeps a straight face. Daniela sighs heavily and walks around her desk to clutch a heavy hand on her shoulder.

 

"Fine, you keep your secrets," she says. "But don't keep her too far for too long. Neither of you deserve that. You know my rule."

 

"It's not lying if it happened in Puerto Rico and no one was there to witness?"

 

Daniela snorts, the hand reaching up to cup her cheek and bring Vanessa's eyes to hers.

 

" _You should tell the people you love that you love them_ ," she says. "Before it's too late. I won't have you and Nina fight."

 

"You're turning into Carla," Vanessa retorts, but Daniela looks at her pointedly until she has to shrug in defeat. "Alright, alright…"

 

Easier said than done, of course, and Vanessa is ready to let Daniela's words slip her by until she gets back to her office.

 

"Ms… Ms García…"

 

Usnavi's self-defeated smile on her. Her stomach tightens and she gives him a short polite nod in return, rushing to her desk to get to work.  _Let your loved ones know you love them._  But doubt is riddling her from all parts. Surely, Daniela can't have meant Usnavi. She can't have known about their little secret, with no one else but them in that hotel room, no one to know how much they've craved each other.

 

She lets a few days pass, unable to find it in her to do anything.  _Am I turning into Nina? How long will I freeze in doubt?_  In their office, the intimacy between her and Usnavi has soured to cordial tension and Vanessa feels unable to move forward one way or another. Now that she knows how good he is for her, should she fight for him and risk everything she has to gamble in her life? Or now that it's all done for, should she try and forget and hope that no one will ever know? Her heart tells her one thing, but her brains certainly don't agree.

 

"Pardon me, Ms García," Usnavi says, pulling her out of her thoughts. "Here you are."

 

The meeting is about to start. Typically, Carla serves the coffee, but Usnavi has always taken his role as an assistant most seriously. She takes a sip − rich, milky coffee with a lot of sugar and a bit of cinnamon. She smiles at him.  _How easily is your heart swayed_ , she chides herself with disgust,  _that your pride is worth nothing more than a cup of coffee?_

 

"Estan listas?" Daniela asks and, without waiting for an answer, starts the meeting.

 

 _It's not that_ , she tells herself.  _It's not one cup of coffee. It's one cup of coffee and one smile and one flutter of his big brown eyes and the feeling of his hand in mine_. Individually, any of those things could be set aside and forgotten, probably. But each little thing about Usnavi, how he sits upright at every meeting and tries to take notes even when he's in over his head, how his eyes glint when she enters their office every morning, especially if she's worn something special just for that look he gives her, how excited he gets when it rains and she has to chide him back to work because he'd happily stare out the window the whole afternoon, every detail of the whole picture is all the more endearing and she wants him for all of those. Each detail is a reminder of the excellent masterpiece they're taken from. It  _is_  the one cup of coffee, only because it was given by him.

 

Her mind having reached a sudden sense of peace, she listens to the meeting carefully, but the devil of distraction comes poke his ugly head. On the other side of the room, Nina is staring distantly and Vanessa pretends she hasn't seen her. All so casually, passing it as nothing, Vanessa puts her hand on Usnavi's thigh. He tenses at first and Vanessa wants to tell him that she's made up her mind, wants to confess everything, to grab him away for herself, but all good things start with a gentle touch and she doesn't move.

 

"Nina, do you have anything to add?" Daniela asks when doing the last round-up of questions across the room.

 

"Er… No, nothing," says Nina, smart Nina who always has something to add.

 

 _Daniela was right, she_ is  _off her game._

 

"Vanessa?"

 

Vanessa completes a few points broached during the meeting and feels Usnavi's eyes on her. She finds his sweaty little hand and squeezes it and just for a while, she thinks he understands her meaning. His muscles unclench and she's quite sure he's smiling, though she doesn't dare have a look, not when Nina is also staring.

 

"Very good, very good…" Daniela says, nodding at her proudly when Vanessa finishes her observation. "Everyone, you should be more like Vanessa. General remark on all of you. Dismissed."

 

The room empties. On her way out, Daniela gives her a prolonged pointed look, her lips pointing at Nina on the other side of the room and Vanessa takes a big breath. Next to her, Usnavi is looking at her like she's a long lost treasure.  _I must handle one before the other._ She jots down three words on her notepad.

 

_my office tonight?_

 

Their eyes meet and she wants to tell him everything, wants to tell him that this is going to be a long downfall for both of them but she wants it to happen if it means they're together. In the corner of her eye, she sees Nina walking up to her. Usnavi must have seen her too, for her nods and runs away.

 

"Van, wait," Nina calls out with the shake in her voice she always gets when she's anxious.

 

Vanessa turns around to have a good look at her. Nina was always the taller one, ever since they were babies, but Vanessa has grown used to wearing heels and Nina flats and she's happy for the couple inches on her right this instant.

 

"I'm… I'm sorry," Nina confesses. "You're obviously being very professional and…"

 

_Come to my office tonight and tell me how professional I am._

 

"Gee," Vanessa smirks, lying through her teeth. "Yeah, at a work meeting, I can be professional."

 

"You know what I mean."

 

Could it be this easy? Could reconciliation be at her fingertips like this, only because of Nina's tender heart that wants to forgive her? She thinks of Usnavi waiting for her in her office and tells herself that she is the stupidest person in the world. So be it, she'll be stupid and keep her best friend. Vanessa has never been one to hold a grudge against the people she loves most.

 

"My place this Sunday, right?" She asks and leaves the room.

 

Daniela is smoking by the window when Vanessa walks into her office.

 

"Caught like a rat," Vanessa teases.

 

"I can do what I want," Daniela replies but she does flick the cigarette butt down the street. "Is everything in order?"

 

 _Everything is fine_ , Vanessa thinks,  _for a filthy liar like me._

 

"Yeah," she says. "Nina and I are meeting up on Sunday again."

 

"Good. Good girl."

 

Vanessa nods. Daniela's eyes are scrutinizing her and she wonders if she's betrayed herself one way or another.  _This is how it's going to be now,_  she tells herself.  _Better get used to that fear._

 

"Vanessa, is there something you want to tell me?"

 

Vanessa gulps.  _Conceal it_.  _You're better than this. You can lie. You've lied to Nina. Usnavi is waiting for you in your office._

 

"No," she says, trying to find the balance between firm and casual. "No, there's nothing."

 

Daniela's gaze doesn't leave her, not even with that answer, but she shakes her head.

 

"It's good you're getting along with Nina. She was getting so stressed I could hear her teeth clenching from up here. You're good people, Vanessa, the two of you. Don't let the gap grow between you again."

 

Usnavi is at his desk when she finds the courage to enter her own office again. On her walk back, she saw that Nina had gone home already and she thinks she remembers that tonight is her weekly date night with her husband and she probably had to hurry to drop the kid by her parents'. On the opposite end of the floor, Maria L. is still gathering her things but Vanessa has never been close to her and she has no doubt that she won't be granted a personal goodbye in her office. The rest of the hall is empty. They're safe. They're alone.

 

He stares at her, gulps. She drops the folders she picked up from Daniela on her way out, the follow-up on their trip to DC. The choice she made earlier seems impossibly hard, or impossibly easy when she closes her eyes and remembers those three days only last week.

 

"What am I going to do with you?" She asks, more for herself than to him.

 

He tries to mumble something and leave the room but she stops him with a glance, beckoning him closer. He's taller than her when he's standing, she learned that soon enough when they were naked and he had her against the wall. With her heels, she has him but then, she learned to tower over most people that way and, sitting at her desk, she feels shorter than ever. She takes his hand.

 

"Do you think we're bad people, Usnavi?"

 

"No," he says immediately and drops to his knees. "You're a wonderful woman, I'm the…"

 

"You're a very good boy," she cuts him. "That's not the matter."

 

 _I'm the screw-up. I'm the boss. I'm supposed to be responsible for both of us._ She runs her fingers through his hair lightly and Usnavi shuts his eyes. He looks so peaceful in this instant. She wants to get even an inkling of that calm for herself. Cupping his face, she makes his eyes meet hers.

 

"How well can you keep a secret?" She asks.

 

 _Better than me?_  Usnavi reaches out, hands flat on Vanessa's thighs, and she smiles.  _How have I ever deserved a boy like him?_

 

"Pretty well," he says, returning the smile. " _Really_  well."

 

She nods. Her fingers tighten a bit in his hair before letting go and she checks at a distance that the door is closed − it is. Taken by a bit of courage, Usnavi presses kisses on her thighs, up and up, bunching up her skirt as he goes.

 

"Good," she whispers. "You're so good to me, Usnavi."

 

He wastes no time, pulling her tights down, dropping kisses everywhere he can. His breath is heavy with anticipation and she wonders how long he's waited for this, if he's been thinking about it as much as she has. She spreads her legs to better give him space and when he tastes her, she has to bite down her lip hard to stop herself from moaning, more in relief than anything else.

 

"Such a good boy…"

 

How different from the hotel, how exposed she feels even in a room with just him. They're breaching a different kind of rule here and she can't decipher which part of her is aroused and which part is terrified.

 

"Fingers," she demands, softens the order with a caress on the cheek. "Please."

 

"Yeah," he sighs out, his breath hot against her clit before he pops it into his mouth again.

 

One finger, then two, and the secrecy is burning hot in Vanessa's veins, the knowledge of the forbidden. There's the little whimpers and noises Usnavi makes, how passionate he is, how much she'd missed him.

 

"We were meant for this," she tells him and loses herself in the sensations. "You and I…"

 

When she's done, he sits back on his butt, lost for words, looking up at her, how exposed she is just for his eyes. She's almost afraid to touch him, to reach out and stroke his cheek, but he leans into her touch so eagerly. Her thumb catches his lip and he sucks it in, the naughty thing.

 

"Think of me tonight?" She asks.

 

The problem with the road to perdition is how smooth and easy it is to fall into it. Lying starts coming as a second nature. She's grateful to be back to good graces with Nina, she is, but every word is a lie, a white lie if she wants to see it that way, every conversation constructs another Vanessa, one who isn't sleeping with Usnavi.

 

But damn, is it easy to dig down wherever he's going with her. The limits of what she deems acceptable are constantly up for redefinition and she lets herself slide faster and faster down that chute. She tries to keep things strictly after work hours, but then there's those rare slow days and she finds that he fits perfectly comfortably under her desk. She thinks she's going to keep a distance, at least for now, but then she invites him at her place. She thinks they must never be seen together, but then she grabs a bite with him after work before they inevitably end up on a ride straight to her bed. She shoves him out of her apartment every time they're done, until she lets him spend the night. Hard and fast, she loses foot and finds that swimming free has never felt better.

 

Of course, there's Nina. There's Daniela. At work, when they're seen together, they're careful as ever to be as inconspicuous as they possibly can and even Usnavi impresses her in that department. Nina, who was so caught up in her doubts, seems to have dropped it.

 

"You never use it?" Usnavi asks on a Friday night when Vanessa lets him use her kitchen − he promised some  _tostones_. "How can you never use it?"

 

He's like a little kid in a toy store, checking all the appliances Vanessa simply hasn't touched, but which all look incredibly pretty and organized in her big kitchen.

 

"Suit yourself," she gestures and he gives her the broadest grin.

 

It's frightening, really, how comfortable they have gotten with the secrecy if it means that at home, they can be as domestic as they want. Usnavi cooks her plantains like his mami used to make, which they eat in front of the TV watching his favorite movie − if he treats her, she'll treat him. Her cat jumps on the couch to occupy the prized spot of Usnavi's lap. He admits that he loves cats and scratches its neck and her impossible grumpy cat doesn't even bite or claw him once.

 

"Usnavi, this is delicious!"

 

He smiles shyly and shrugs, always so hard on himself, and she kisses him for it, doesn't stop kissing him all night. They spend all Saturday in bed as well, though the previous ardor of their hotel adventures is somewhat more under control these days. Now, they don't just have sex, although they do too, and they're getting so much better at it, even better than before. But they talk more, they share what's on their heart except the biggest, most dangerous question: what of their future? What happens next?

 

What happens next is that early Sunday morning, she has to ask him to leave after a thousand kisses of apology and as many  _'I'll miss you'_ s, because Nina is coming on Sundays and Vanessa has to put back her mask.

 

"Yo, you came," she says when Nina arrives much too short a time after Usnavi left, always risking the narrowest of gap between them. She spots the candy Nina brought − she gets them the  _best_  candy as a peace offering these days − and dives on it. " _Mine_."

 

"Hello to you too," Nina says, closing the door behind them.

 

Vanessa gets to the couch for their weekly movie marathon, biting back the memory of what Usnavi did to her on that couch the very previous night.

 

"Sorry, room's a mess," she says −  _he didn't bother cleaning it up after I was done with him._  "Just dump your coat wherever."

 

Nina gets herself a polite little free slot on the couch, busies herself already with trying to make things look nicer, as if Vanessa cared. Well, Nina cares.

 

"What happened?"

 

_Usnavi and I had sex on the coffee table, then on the couch, and then we went straight to bed to cuddle and talk about birds._

 

"Haven't had time to clean up," she shrugs and quickly puts the movie on. "Ooh, check this out, I love the opening scene."

 

At least with Nina, Vanessa can watch whatever her heart desires, unlike Usnavi's romance or fantasy movies and no in between. Nina is open to everything, so long as Vanessa accepts her long rants about how many plot holes she found.

 

"Look at that! Oh, man, I love how it…" She realizes, too late, that Nina has stopped responding. "Nina?"

 

But she already knows by Nina's face that something must have happened. Did she find a condom? She could always lie and pretend it was any one night stand. Not like it would be in the realm of impossible. Or is this unrelated? Is she… Nina cuts short all her wonderings.

 

"Vanessa," she asks. "Why is Usnavi's tie under your coffee table?"

 

Vanessa freezes into place, hates herself for every damn step of this descent to the pits.

 

"It's not Usnavi's t…" She tries to lie but Nina shakes her head, of course.

 

"I gave it to him after his first paycheck. That's his tie."

 

Vanessa wants to scream, to disappear, or make Nina disappear and forget everything about the past five minutes. She wants to go back in time when she had never met Usnavi.  _No_ , she thinks.  _No, you don't want that_. Damn her. Damn him, for being a thoughtful friend who wears all the gifts he receives, but only damn him a little bit for that, because that is such an Usnavi thing and she can't hold it against him.

 

"What do you want me to tell you, Nina?" She sighs.

 

Nina gets visibly more upset and throws the tie between them.

 

"Tell me why you lied to me all these weeks, that'd be a start! You told me nothing was going on. I thought I had to be wrong!"

 

 _Yes, because I would have been so much more inclined to tell you if I'd known this would be your reaction_. She picks up the tie, remembering how she untied it off Usnavi's neck after kissing him and telling him he had the right to make himself comfortable here at home and could untie it himself the next time.

 

"I'm  _sorry_ , okay," she says desperately.  _What am I sorry for? For love?_  "What do you expect me to say?"

 

Nina sighs, starts to gesticulate.

 

"Tell me you were working late at your place! Tell me you stole his tie, I don't know…"

 

"You  _know_  we had sex and he forgot it here, I'm not gonna lie about it  _after_  you've found out."

 

"You did the first time," Nina points out.

 

Vanessa takes a big breath. She wasn't expecting this conversation to come so soon. Hell, she wasn't expecting it to ever come. She has no idea what she was expecting. She puts down the tie and grabs a handful of candy to calm her anger before answering.

 

"Believe it or not, we weren't doing it back then," she says.  _For all I wanted to_.

 

Slowly, Nina's cold thaws and she reaches out to rub Vanessa's shoulder.  _God, I needed this._  Vanessa melts into it and soon they're hugging, nestled against each other.

 

"Van, you can't keep this going," Nina whispers, stroking her hair and Vanessa wants to ignore it all, wants to pretend nothing happened and to deny everything, but she nods.

 

" _I know!_  I know…"

 

She sees it now, how short-lived it was bond to be. A comet only shining for the best few weeks of her life. She ought to have known. She wants to cry the rest of the night, ideally without Nina, and to pet her cat and eat cookie dough, and she wants Usnavi. God, she wants Usnavi.

 

"I have to break up with him," she says and her voice breaks.

 

It's not long after Nina left when she lets herself sob.

 

She goes at it the cowardly way, for once. Of course, it would be neater to tell Usnavi that everything must stop, that she can't see him anymore, that they ought to go their separate ways. Maybe it'd be simpler, but it certainly isn't easier and she finds she just wants to let things slide away. Her heart isn't into it. How could he just the morning before be in her kitchen baking her breakfast waffles, and the next day, look at her like she's worth all the bodegas in the world but with a notch of distance already? How could things slip away from her so?

 

She eats alone that Monday lunch. Spends lunch break in Central Park for once, sits on a bench eating a sub all on her own, missing Usnavi's little homemade dishes she quickly got him to pack for her as well. Her mind comes up with forbidden images of lunch break with him, feeding him bites of her lunch and Usnavi nibbling with his little cheeks full like a chipmunk, and cuddling on the bench, maybe making out. She spends much too long on the bench before she can gather herself to go back to work.

 

She sends him home that night. And the next, and the next, and by the end of the week, Vanessa has never felt more exhausted to go to work and see Usnavi's sad little face longing for her. He doesn't know that she feels the same. She's half minded to claim to be sick to go home early. How pitiful. Spending years reaching a place in the society that she is fully satisfied with, working hard to be proud of herself, of her cultures, and feeling unmotivated for what? For a boy?

 

She buys herself some ice cream on the way home, the expensive organic shit kind of ice cream, two buckets just to make sure, and picks out a sappy romantic movie to watch and bawl her eyes out, judgment be damned. She can do what she wants.

 

"Mija, you need to get out on a Friday night," she hears as soon as she pushes the door open.

 

She frowns. As she thought, she finds Daniela sitting comfortably on her couch, legs crossed elegantly. She helped herself to soda in one of Vanessa's fancy glasses, her little finger in the air. Probably would have had a cocktail if Vanessa kept alcohol at home.

 

"Fucking shit, Dani, you scared me," she grumbles, putting one bucket of ice cream into the freezer for later. She grabs herself a spoon, and another one for Daniela for good measure. "I told you,  _only in cases of emergency_. I should take back that key…"

 

Daniela gestures her silent.  _I'm sure she has dozens of copies anyways_.

 

"Siéntate," she orders and Vanessa makes a show of sitting down with as much bad mood as she can, her feet on the coffee table, shoving a spoonful of pistachio ice cream down her mouth.

 

"Why are you here?"

 

Daniela fakes shock.

 

"So I'm not allowed to visit my child?"

 

"You're not my mom," Vanessa says and downs another bite of ice cream. She offers some to Daniela, who politely declines.

 

There's a few minutes of silence.  _Would that it were always like that with Daniela_.

 

"Vanessa, what do you  _want_?"

 

The question catches her off-guard just as she was considering starting the movie and ignoring Daniela. 

 

"Wha…"

 

"What do you want?"

 

" _I heard you_ ," she hisses, but softens. "I… I don't know, why do you ask?"

 

Daniela gestures for Vanessa to get closer. Reluctantly, she puts down the ice cream and scoots over to where Daniela is sitting. Dani wraps an arm around her, almost forcing a hug but Vanessa takes it willingly after this exhausting week, even coming from her.

 

"I know everything about you and Usnavi," Daniela whispers and Vanessa's blood freezes. She tries to untangle herself from the embrace but Daniela's hold is freakish strong. "Shh, you're not in trouble."

 

"Yes I am!" Vanessa retorts. "Dani, I… I did something wrong. Super wrong. I've never been more in trouble."

 

"Look at me and tell me this," Daniela grabs her face gently, thumb stroking across her cheek. "What do you  _want_?"

 

Vanessa closes her eyes, tears welling up already but she refuses to let them fall.

 

"I want  _him_."

 

Daniela's hand lingers for a while before she retreats. Pressing a soft kiss on Vanessa's forehead, she stands up, gathers her things.

 

"Bueno, you know what to do."

 

Vanessa blinks a few times and almost figures she imagined it all, but she hears the door shutting in the distance and Daniela's strong perfume is lingering in the room. On the coffee table, the ice cream is starting to melt and she hesitates. She rushes to her feet three seconds later to put it in the freezer and gets a change of clothes. Daniela was right. She needs to get out on a Friday night.

 

Her heart is a thunderstorm at her temples when she presses her thumb down on the doorbell. She wonders if she should run away before he answers the door, but then he  _doesn't_ answer it. Could he not be home? But that sounds nothing like the Usnavi she knows, out of home in the evening… Vanessa stares at the door for a few seconds but she knows she's not going to leave without at least taking her shot. Not after what she's been through with him. It wasn't too long ago. The taste of Usnavi's mouth on hers is still fresh on her lips as she rings a second time and this time, there is a bit of shuffling before he opens.

 

He's not looking good. Well, he is, which is the whole problem, really, but tonight his hair is sticking up, his eyes are baggy and his goatee is much less tended than it usually is. He looks like he could use a nap and a blanket, but most of all an explanation.

 

"Ms García…"

 

She breathes in sharply and wishes she'd thought about what to say exactly. She wants to bury herself in his arms and fall flat on the couch and cuddle for the next three to five days, but she supposes that can't happen without the issue being settled in the open between them before.

 

"Erm…" Usnavi mumbles, stepping aside to let her in. She realizes this is the first time she's seen his place. "Ms García, what are you…"

 

"You can call me Vanessa," she says when he trails off.

 

How she wishes he'd call her Vanessa. She's wanted that for a while. She looks around, not quite believing this is the home of just a single man, but she knows he used to live with his abuela. It explains the taste of the decor, she supposes. But then, there is a bit of Usnavi everywhere, from the pictures on the walls, several of those with Nina, to the box filled with kids toys in a corner (she knows he babysits Nina's little one from time to time − how brave he is for doing that), not to mention the bookshelf where she's sure she'll find ten books in Spanish for every one in English. On the couch, there is a thick knitted blanket and she wonders who made it. Maybe him, although likely the late abuela.

 

She looks back at Usnavi and can't quite decipher what he's trying to say with his eyes. He looks anxious, in any case.

 

"Do you wanna…" She opens her mouth and wants to say something but he goes on. "I mean, I'll get you a drink."

 

He points to the couch and Vanessa carefully takes a seat, grabbing the can he brings her to keep her hands busy, but she's not thirsty. Not for soda.

 

"We need to talk," she says, trying to sound firm but she doesn't think it quite succeeded, the way Usnavi snorts.

 

"You already did break up," he says and breaks her heart all over again. "We don't need to talk. I got that."

 

 _Don't you know I never wanted to?_ She thinks but she sees the hurt in his eyes and suddenly they're too much, too painful. She nods and looks down at her lap, gathering herself. She only has one chance at this. She won't be the crazy ex… not quite girlfriend. She won't be the crazy ex naughty secret who just refuses to let go. If he lets go forever, then she will as well, but not before she's had her chance to ask what her heart desires.

 

"What if…" She gets overwhelmed all of a sudden and tries to drink some of that soda to give her courage, but of course that's a lot to expect from some overly sweet liquid. "What if I don't want us to break things off?"

 

She dares to look at him and cannot get a good read of his bewildered expression. Anxiety, fear… hope? She wishes she could go back to how things were last week, before the mess. If this turns out fine, that's the goal, and even better than it was before. If it doesn't… She doesn't want to think about that alternative.

 

"What… What are you talking about?"

 

A flash of doom courses through her, the knowledge that this is all done for. She gulps.

 

"I told you, I… I like you a lot.  _Really_  a lot."

 

 _Enough that you've made me lose my mind the minute I saw you. Enough that I put everything I've worked for so far in life at risk just for a chance of happiness with you_. She takes his hand on his lap, finds it trembling. The feel of it on her face, on her body, is still not foreign and forgotten.

 

"What would you say to that?" She asks gently.

 

She hates the few seconds of silence between them, how heavily they're charged. Her heart offered out between them for him to take hold and cherish. She sees why Daniela refrains from relationships of this sort now. Except that Daniela cannot possibly know about the longing inside her chest that makes her want to hold him and love him and never let him go. If she knew that force, she'd never be able to ignore it. Vanessa certainly can't.

 

"Ms García…" She winces and he catches himself. "Erm,  _Vanessa_ … I don't think I understand."

 

She doesn't know if she loves him even more for this, for proceeding cautiously even as she offers him her heart on a silver platter.

 

"I don't want this," she gestures at the empty apartment, the secrecy, the lies. His face falls and she corrects herself, craving to reach out and kiss him and soothe him but the cards are in his hands only now, as she offers them. "I mean, I want  _this_ ," she squeezes his hand. "But I don't want any more secret, hiding this. I want you. In the open."

 

He sinks into the couch and for a second, she wonders if she's completely misread what he had to gain in this relationship. If he saw it as one. If he saw any potential between them farther than banging his hot boss.

 

"You mean like… girlfriend and stuff?"

 

How presumptuous, really, to assume that because she rubs his dick the right way, he'll want to give away his heart? She nods, ready to depart if he gives the signal.

 

"You want that?" He asks and she may be inventing the doubt in his voice. Or she may not.

 

She takes a big breath. Thinks of his arms around her.

 

"More than anything in the world," she replies, one last breath of honesty. "I've wanted that for a while now."

 

He's staring and Vanessa both hates and loves that about him, that he can make her doubt everything about herself. He doesn't even know he has that power. He doesn't know how much she loves him.

 

"Don't you?" She asks, cupping his cheek.

 

Without noticing, he leans into her touch ever so slightly, and then before she knows it, his lips are on hers, hands at her hips pulling her on his lap. Vanessa's heart is thumping in joy and she wonders if he can feel it. Can he hear the sound of her love? Can he taste it in her kisses? But before she can enjoy him further, he pushes on her chest − gentle and tender, not in rejection but in enquiry. She would hate to leave those arms now more than ever.

 

"Wait, wait… Work?"

 

She so wishes they didn't have to have this conversation. They could just jump straight into time, the part where they're happy together and there's no struggle.

 

"I don't want to force you to do anything," she insists because more than ever, his choices matter. But she so, so wishes that those kisses mean something to him, even a fraction of what they do to her. "I never have. It's up to you."

 

"I… have to quit," he says slowly.

 

His hands tighten around her waist affectionately and she buries her face into his neck, nodding. Wishes she could stay like this forever here on his lap and not have to worry about the unpleasant outcome of this tenderness between them.

 

"If we… if you wanna be with me."

 

"I want that," he says at once and she feels relief washing over her again and again as he pulls her hand to his lips to press as many kisses on it. "I want that more than anything in the world."

 

"More than this job?" She puts her heart on the line.

 

"Way more than this job," he answers in the next breath and how can she resist a boy like that?

 

She kisses him again, fingers weaving into his hair to keep him so very close. Not so subtly, she pulls down on his shirt collar to drag him with her as she lies back on the sofa and he fits between her legs just as well as he did just last week, his weight the perfect cover above her.

 

" _Usnavi_ ," she moans as the trail of his kisses slides down her throat, slithering across her neck, her skin way too sensitive. Her hands dig into his hair, grabbing. "Hey, Usnavi…"

 

"Mmh?"

 

"I really love being your girlfriend," she says and feels more than she sees his smile against her skin.

 

"I really love you being my girlfriend," he replies, always thinking of her first.

 

He palms her jacket, which feels much too warm all of a sudden, unneeded.

 

"This?" He asks, toying with the hem at the bottom.

 

She nods for him to remove it and loves the way his eyes brighten up when he sees the random gray tank top she put underneath in her haste to come see him. He's seen her naked before, and yet marvels at the sight of her in casual wear, she reflects, and decides she loves him more for it. She pulls him down for a deep kiss and grabs his hand to slide it between her legs.

 

"Oh, yes…"

 

Maybe she's too forward for him, but as his palm presses up against her, massaging through her yoga pants, she's sure he doesn't really mind her overt suggestions. He kisses her like that week apart was a decade, like they might never get a tomorrow. He doesn't know yet that she'll give him all the tomorrows he wants, but she'll show him.

 

"You can…" She starts and Usnavi reaches up, thumb hooking under the waistband. "Yeah…"

 

He pulls them down just enough for his fingers to find her. She's wet already, turned soft by this whole girlfriend thing, probably. Arms around his shoulders, she rocks her hips into him and a couple fingers find their way inside her. She sighs in relief.

 

"That's… really nice."

 

He laughs self-consciously, forehead resting against hers as he fingers her and she loves him for this too, not just the feelings in her heart but also for the pleasure he brings her body as well. Even sex with him feels like coming home. She feels a sudden surge of affection towards him and presses many kisses on his mouth, his cheek, his brow. His breath is heavy and warm against her and she can feel his dick rubbing on her thigh despite himself, the sweatpants not nearly thick enough to hide how hard he's getting, but he focuses on her, always. His thumb draws heavy circles around her clit with delicious pressure but she wants more.

 

"Let me just…"

 

A pile of limbs on his narrow sofa, she barely manages to slide a hand between their bodies to touch him without interrupting his work − God knows she doesn't want him to stop − but she's barely brushed against him through the fabric that he pauses and buries his face into her neck.

 

"That's a bad idea," he groans. "I don't wanna… I mean, I'm, erm,  _really_  into this whole thing happening right now…"

 

She hears his words and understands them a few seconds later.

 

"Oh, you're afraid you're gonna…" She squeezes him ever so lightly and he moans in embarrassment.

 

" _Yes!_  I'm… I really like you," he says apologetically. "And, erm, last time I, er, you know… was last week…"

 

His fingers move again, pressing down, a slow in and out and he tries to distract her with his kisses against her neck and the top of her breasts. She removes her hand, plays with his hair instead, which she loved from the start, how it twirls between her fingers.

 

"D'you have a condom?" She asks suddenly.

 

He nods lazily against chest, trying to push the tight tank top down without having to break the mood and just ask her to pull it off, but she does that for him by pushing on his shoulders. His eyes widen.

 

"Oh, you mean like  _right now?_ "

 

She cocks her brow and he jumps to his feet but his quest for the mighty condom is cut short when she pulls off her tank top with no bra underneath and he stands there dumbly staring at her. She laughs.

 

"Go on, then," she gestures him on.

 

He disappears into his bedroom where she follows him − she would so much rather do this on a bed than on a couch, for all the appeal of careless impromptu fucking on the closest surface. She drops her yoga pants, even the cute panties she'd put on thinking of him. He'll see them some other day. When she sees his eyes on her as he turns around to show off his findings, she gets the impression he's much happier to see her without anyways.

 

"Got it…" He mumbles, suddenly nervous.

 

She walks towards him in that rehearsed way she's practiced over the years and he gulps, dropping onto his bed. She gestures with a finger and he pulls his white tank top off, then his sweatpants. He can keep his socks if he wants. She always knew he was a weirdo of some sort. The cute sort.

 

"Usnavi…" She lets out, looking down at him as he stares at her like she's a goddess come alive. She could stand to see those eyes more often, as often as he will let her. "Gimme."

 

He hands her the condom and, pushing on his chest so he lies down on the small bed, she kneels down.

 

"Wait, what?"

 

She rips the wrapper open and smirks at him before tucking the condom in her mouth the right way and leaning down.

 

"Oh my god, don't do that or I'ma… Ugh…" He squeaks when her lips touch him.

 

If she's gonna be a hoe, she's gonna at least use those skills from time to time. She leans back up to look at his fully wrapped dick and pink embarrassed face.

 

"Well," she says, "You didn't."

 

"Oh my god…" he repeats, hand over his eyes. "How do you  _do_  stuff like this?!"

 

"Shh," she says, straddling his hips and removing his hand from his face. "I know things."

 

She grabs it close, intertwines their fingers and with a shy smile, he squeezes. She loves him, she knows. She's not ready to say it, not upfront like this, but she knows it in her heart and when she sees his pretty smiles and his tender eyes, she can only believe that he understands her just fine.

 

"We can do whatever we want," she tells him as she reaches down to play with his dick against her, teasing a bit. He pushes his hips into her touch and she notices his eyes have left hers, focused on what she's doing down there. So be it, she'll give him a show if he wants. "You like?"

 

He nods hurriedly, his face still burning and she asks herself why she ever thought he might not want this.

 

"You're cute," she tells him and how adorable is it that his cheeks turn pink even in this moment. She grabs his dick, toying with it but she's craving this as much as he is, their first time since their last time as a naughty secret, and she can't wait any longer. Sinking down onto him, she reaches up and pushes his sweaty hair back. "You're really cute."

 

He whimpers, his hands grasping her hips so tight, like he's afraid he'll lose her any time now. He isn't, he's never going to.

 

"Vanessa…"

 

How beautiful her name comes out of his lips, as beautiful as his awed face when he looks up at her. She ought to be angry, maybe, that he's ogling her body up and down when she's just looking into his eyes, but she's too enamored for any of that bullshit. She's looking hot and she's glad he sees it.

 

There's something special about today. Oh, they did have their intimate times before, especially during that trip, but there was the barrier of Ms García between them and now Vanessa can be just Vanessa. She can look at him and see someone whose career does not depend on her, someone who has nothing to lose to their relationship. Her boyfriend.

 

"I wanna…" He reaches out, thumb pressing on her clit, just like she loves it. She moans. "Yeah…"

 

How dumb and soft has she gotten that she prefers a sweaty hurried hook up in his small bedroom that looks like a teenage boy's to what they've done at her place or at the hotel? But she pushes all these thoughts away, focusing on the sensations, the feelings inside as well. She pinches a nipple and gets a loud groan out of him. He looks so very, very fine under this light, under her. She rolls her hips and he pushes up harsh, erratic, overwhelmed. He's not the only one losing himself in this. After much too short a time, she feels him quickening his touches, pressing heavy circles against her clit, and she knows he's trying to get her off as fast as he can so that he doesn't feel guilty coming too early.

 

"Yeah, baby," she tells him, moaning at the way his eyes light up at the pet name. "Yeah, I'm close."

 

And who cares if their first time as boyfriend and girlfriend is a quickie? Who fucking cares? With every slide in and out, and with every motion of his thumb, she feels her stomach clench tight and she's getting herself closer and closer, and she doesn't give a fuck. There'll be so many other times.

 

" _Now_ ," she says and he presses down hard, his hand gripping her hip so tight to keep her down exactly right where he needs her.

 

She feels the orgasm through every nerve ending of her entire body and it's weird, how it's just like all the ones he's given her before, and yet completely new, a whole other dimension to it now. She pants through it, squirming on top of him and hears his hurried breathing as he pushes up one last time as well, a whimper at his lips. His dick starts to soften inside her. It's over. And it's finally started.

 

Still panting, she slides off him, grabs the condom, ties it up and throws it away. They'll have time for cleaning up later, probably. She doesn't want to move any time soon. She falls flat on the bed and feels him stir, cradling her, pulling her into the little spoon. She grins so large she has to bury it in the pillow. His chest is sweaty and hot against her back but she couldn't care less.

 

"I… I like you a lot," she says. "Really a lot, Usnavi."

 

He kisses her shoulder once, twice, his hand finding hers across her stomach. His breath is quieting down.

 

"I like you so much too," he swears. "I mean, more than you think, probably."

 

"You don't know what I think," she retorts and squeezes his hand.

 

He chuckles, pressing another trickle of kisses down to her neck.

 

"Then you'll tell me."

 

Usnavi is this, is everything about this instant. He's this peace, this calm that she needs to balance her rashness, her impulsiveness. He's everything that completes her.  _I love him_ , she thinks, and cannot wait for the day she'll be ready to tell him.

 


	4. Epilogue

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> A short epilogue a few months after the last chapter. Vanessa and Usnavi's special happy ending.

Out of habit or personal predilection, Usnavi always wakes up before Vanessa. At her home, she doesn't mind it too much. He either makes himself busy, and Usnavi's favorite pastimes are laundry and cleaning, which is fine by her, or he waits for her in bed and there's often incentive enough to give even a sloth like her a decent motivation to wake up. She loves him for it, for being the best little horny thing just like she is. He makes her mornings worth going through.

  


When they're anywhere else, though, Usnavi finds better plans than making a home look nice or his girlfriend feel like a queen. He gets the annoying kind of busy. Vanessa doesn't love spending the night at his old apartment, not even for all the hundreds of memories he claims there are within these walls. Far too few of those memories are hers anyways.

  


"Baby, you're being loud," she grumbles and pulls the comforter over her head.

  


The sun is just starting to peer through the shades and she wonders how he even manages to be antsy like this at the break of dawn. There should be a legal time at which fidgeting and shuffling is not allowed.

  


"Sorry! Sorry, just… making sure…"

  


At least, they're not going to spend the night here anymore after today, she thinks selfishly. She swallows that notion and sits up. Of course, he's fiddling with a couple of the boxes in the corner. She looks at his watch, the only thing left on the nightstand, everything else packed away for the big move. Early, way too early. The first ray of sun falls onto her skin, a warm strip across her chest.

  


"Usnavi," she demands. "Come back to bed."

  


He turns to her and at least it can't be that bad, if he still finds it in him to stare at her dumbly sitting naked in his bed, his mouth hanging open. Some distractions always work. She holds up the sheets and after one last glance at the boxes, he sighs and slides back next to her. She holds him close, his face pressed against her naked breasts, combing through his messy hair. He was tense but nothing that cuddling cannot soothe. Usnavi is like this, how he always needs her embrace to feel better, but finds his words after she's soothed him.

  


"Everything is gonna change," he mutters against her skin and she kisses the top of his head.

  


"Yeah," she says and rubs his back. He slides a let between hers and slowly, she thinks she can make him quiet down a lot.

  


"But it's for the better," he points out himself. "We're gonna… We're gonna be happy. Happier."

  


It's a long day for both of them. Usnavi, poor thing, is back to a nervous wreck by the time the movers she hired arrive. He is torn between trying to take control of every step of his move, ordering them around so everything is exactly as he wants it, and being way too fucking polite to dare say anything. Box by box, everything gets tucked into their truck and transported to Vanessa's much larger apartment downtown. It _will_ be better. Vanessa won't tell, or at least not anyone, but she is looking forward to going to bed with Usnavi every night, and all his weird morning wanderings aside, to wake up at his side every day. They work well together, different as they are.

  


"You ready?" She asks him as they get the last box from the old apartment that he will soon pass on. He's found a nice couple to rent it, people who will respect the place where he holds so many memories, take care of it.

  


He stands in the middle of the empty room, his hat between his hands, his back to her. Carefully, she places a hand on his shoulder and he leans his cheek towards it, a hint of a caress.

  


"Can you… Can I have a minute?"

  


"Course," she nods.

  


Kissing his cheek, she leaves to give the movers some extra instructions on what is fragile and should be handled with care. Usnavi is only a few minutes and they spend the ride back to their new home holding hands in peaceful silence.

  


"Is it alright?" She asks him when they enter their home for the first time as the two people living here. "D'you like it?"

  


There's bits of Usnavi peppered everywhere in what used to be her home. They make Vanessa feel comfortable, like a blanket of Usnavi wrapped around her wherever she goes. His old grandma kitchen utensils next to her fancy equipment she never used much, the crochet blanket on her modern sofa, his wooden wardrobe next to her built-in closet, it all fits because they've decided to make it fit.

  


"Yeah," he says, hangs his hat by the door and joins her in the living room, dropping onto the couch next to her. She holds an arm for him to cuddle up against her and he takes the offer, nuzzling her neck. "Yeah, I love it."

  


She smiles into his hair and Usnavi pulls back to look at her, his bright beautiful eyes warm and soft and she leans towards him only for the moment to be ruined by both of their phones buzzing loudly. She grunts, grabbing the guilty device from the table as Usnavi pulls his from his pocket.

  


"Benny and Nina ask if we're settling in alright," Usnavi says.

  


"Daniela asks me if I'm going to need… Alright, she is _not_ getting an answer on that," Vanessa deletes the text, putting the phone back where it was. "Now, where were we?"

  


Usnavi smiles, dropping his phone mid text. Benny and Nina can wait. The whole entire goddamn world can wait. Vanessa has Usnavi with her now. She pushes on his shoulders, straddles him, watches his eyes widen in anticipation. She smiles.

  


"You," she says, shoving a finger into his chest, "are gonna get a housewarming till dawn and you gonna be missin' your shift at the restaurant tomorrow."

  


"I don't care," he replies, eagerly grabbing her by the hips. "I really don't."

  


"Good," she says, leaning down to give him a first kiss, a first taste of the night. "Cause work doesn't come first."

 


End file.
